Phase 1 Town Square construction ready to start

Thanks to extraordinary community generosity, a Live Green Toronto grant, and support from Councillor Gord Perks, Phase 1 of the Sorauren Park Town Square is set to become a reality later this year.

The Phase 1 community fundraising campaign far exceeded its initial goal of $40,000, raising to date almost $62,000 and counting. Councillor Perks was able to secure additional funding in order to meet the conditions of a $125,000 matching grant from Live Green Toronto, providing $250,000 in funding that helps start the project managed by Parks, Forestry and Recreation. Phase 1 construction can begin later this summer.

How far Phase 1 goes is still being determined by the design and construction teams. The Planning Partnership has been hired by the City to prepare final design concepts and drawings. The full build-out of the Square will require a second phase of fundraising.

Town Square concept with Market

May 22 meeting to discuss Metrolinx construction at Wabash site

Councillor Gord Perks is holding a meeting to discuss the Metrolinx proposal to use the area behind 40 Wabash Avenue as a staging area for track work. 40 Wabash Avenue is the address of the abandoned linseed oil factory, the future community centre, and the land is owned by Parks, Forestry and Recreation. The access point is at the intersection of Wabash and Macdonell.

Metrolinx says it needs the space for approximately 20 months, starting this June, and predicts up to 30 dump trucks a day on neighbourhood streets during peak times. For more information, visit the Roncesvalles-Macdonell Residents’ Association website.

Meeting details:

Wednesday May 22nd, 2013 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Fern Avenue Public School – 128 Fern Avenue

Councillor Perks, Metrolinx and Parks Forestry and Recreation staff will be reviewing details of the proposed staging area.

Make your gift go further… all donations doubled before May 1

Double the value of your donation to the Sorauren Park Town Square campaign by giving before May 1! Thanks to a matching grant, Live Green Toronto will match all donations to the Sorauren Park Town Square project before a May 1 deadline.

The new Town Square will bring the derelict space between the Sorauren Fieldhouse and the old linseed oil factory back to life. It will provide more space for an expanded Farmers’ Market, community gardens and trees, benches and picnic tables, and space for performances, concerts and festivals. It will also feature a bake oven and community sinks.

Donations of $100 or more will be recognized immediately on the virtual donor wall and eventually on a permanent donor wall to be erected in the Square. Donations also receive a charitable tax receipt from our fundraising partner, the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation.

Help complete Sorauren Park and leave a lasting legacy for generations to come!

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See Planning Partnership designs for Town Square April 17

Get a peak at the revised plans for the Sorauren Town Square this April 17 at a public consultation hosted by the City of Toronto, Wabash Building Society, The Planning Partnership and Councillor Gord Perks.

Sorauren Park Town Square Public Consultation
Wednesday, April 17, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Parkdale Community Centre small gym (shared with Parkdale Public School)
75 Lansdowne Avenue

Have your say on the final plans before Phase 1 construction begins later this year.

The City has contracted distinguished design firm The Planning Partnership (partners in the Evergreen Brick Works, the new Don Lands Public Realm plan, among other projects) to prepare the final design for the Sorauren Park Town Square.

Last chance for 2012 charitable receipt!

As 2012 comes quickly to a close, the Sorauren Town Square Campaign has raised almost $56,000 from generous families, individuals, businesses and organizations. Thank you all!

Among the latest donors are Cast and Crew of Rookie Blue; Soup ‘n Such Cafe; Family McTaglips: Kieran, Lachlan, Keith and Liz; James Padwick, Tracie Donald and Kale; Ian and Gwen from Ritchie; and Susan Farquhar, Leah Cruickshank, Jacqueline Cruicksank, Peter Cruickshank. Thank you!

There are only a few days left to donate and receive a charitable tax receipt for 2012. You can donate online through our partnership with the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation.

Read the full list of donors (over $100) on the Purchase A Paver Donor Wall.

All funds are doubled thanks to a matching grant from Live Green Toronto.

Pumpkin Sale Oct. 27, Pumpkin Parade Nov. 1

The annual charity Pumpkin Sale takes place Saturday Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. till noon at the Sorauren Park Fieldhouse. All funds raised are donated to the Sorauren Park Town Square campaign, organized by the Wabash Building Society, which has now topped $50,000 thanks to the generosity of neighbours and local businesses. Pumpkin Sale proceeds are also doubled thanks to a matching grant from Live Green Toronto.

Sorauren Park Pumpkin Sale, this year Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. till noon

Pumpkin Sale pumpkins are donated by Chander Chaddah, broker, Sutton Group Associates, and Joanna Lang, residential mortgage manager, Scotiabank. This is the fifth year Chander and Joanna have run the Pumpkin Sale, raising well over $10,000 to date, all donated to the park and fieldhouse. This year’s goal is another $3,000. Thanks Chander and Joanna and everyone who comes to buy their pumpkin!

And there’s a good chance most of those pumpkins will make a return trip to the park, as the annual Sorauren Park Pumpkin Parade takes place the evening of Nov. 1, the day after Halloween. Bring your jack-o-lantern to the park, line it up along the path, and enjoy the parade!

Drop by the Fieldhouse this year (7 – 8:30 p.m.) on the same evening as the Pumpkin Parade for the regular monthly meeting of the Wabash Building Society, which will hold an open house featuring the plans for the Town Square and exciting news updates.

A big thank-you to City of Toronto Solid Waste, Parks, Forestry and Recreation and Councillor Gord Perks and staff who this year have once again arranged for the pumpkin pick-up the following day. It’s a big job and is appreciated by the hundreds of people who enjoy the parade every year.

Little City Festival raises $4,200 for Town Square

The ever-expanding Little City Festival, held June 17, was a big success this year. Thanks to community support, the Festival raised $4,200 for the Sorauren Town Square fund.

The new Town Square, with construction planned to start in fall 2013, will expand Sorauren Park into the vacant fenced-off land between the Fieldhouse and the old linseed oil factory.

A big thanks to Little City Festival organizers The Little Paper, Small Print Toronto and Rooster Studios.

A compilation album of the young musicians who performed at the Festival is available for download, and proceeds will also be donated to the Town Square campaign. The album download costs $10. Purchase this great album of local talent and future stars from the Zunior website here.

Festival organizers are already working on next year’s event. Subscribe to Sorauren Park News to stay in touch with Festival news and other events at the park.

Community fundraiser tops $40,000

Thanks to many residents, the generosity of local real estate agent Chander Chaddah, and proceeds donated by the recent Little City Festival, the Sorauren Park Town Square community fundraising campaign has surpassed its initial $40,000 goal and now sits at more than $48,000 raised.

With a new matching funds grant from Livegreen Toronto, every dollar in the community campaign is doubled, meaning total funds raised to date sit at more than $96,000.

Live Green Toronto awards $125,000 grant to Sorauren Town Square

The City of Toronto’s Live Green Toronto program has awarded a grant to the Sorauren Park Town Square project through its 2012 Capital Projects Fund.

The non-profit, community-based Wabash Building Society (WBS), which advocates for the completion of Sorauren Avenue Park in Ward 14, filed the successful grant application. The Live Green Toronto grant will provide up to a maximum of $125,000 for the Town Square project, subject to the following conditions:

• $40,000 of the grant is contingent on the WBS achieving its community Purchase A Paver fundraising goal of $40,000; and

• $85,000 is contingent on the WBS securing matching funds from other funding organizations.

“We’re thrilled with this support and the matching-grant approach of Live Green Toronto,” says WBS volunteer chair Doug Bennet. “This means we’ll be able to leverage the funding to eventually secure $250,000, rather than having a single $125,000 grant.”

Thanks to strong community support, the Purchase A Paver campaign is well on its way to reaching its $40,000 goal, with more than $22,500 raised to date, and pledges that will substantially increase that total.

As well, the WBS will actively apply to other philanthropic organizations and grant programs. “With the support from Live Green Toronto, the community and our track record of building the Sorauren Park Fieldhouse, we’re very confident of success,” says Bennet. “Every dollar helps us leverage this tremendous commitment from Live Green.”

Town Square plan by Alex Mut, Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation

The Sorauren Park Town Square project will turn vacant industrial land into an animated green space adjacent to Sorauren Avenue Park. The plan includes planting 31 new trees, adding new gardens and green spaces, and creating new community spaces for picnics, performances, the Sorauren Farmers Market and community gatherings.

Sorauren Park in the Roncesvalles Village/Parkdale neighbourhood promotes an active pedestrian- and bike-friendly lifestyle, with the Farmers’ Market (run by the West End Food Co-op) a strong provider of local food.

Live Green Toronto is a component of the City’s Climate Change, Clean Air and Sustainable Energy Action Plan, an environmental framework aimed at reducing Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The targets and recommendations were unanimously adopted by City Council in July 2007.

Live Green Toronto’s Capital Projects Fund provides partial funding to support community and neighbourhood inspired, on-the-ground, physical projects that will reduce greenhouse gas and smog causing emissions. The goal is to empower Torontonians to take action that cleans our air and reduces the emissions that contribute to climate change.

For more information, use the contact form.

WBS and Yale Alumni tidy up Fieldhouse gardens

Ray (from Yale), Jen, Karen, Helena and Mary cleaning out the weeds

In what’s becoming an annual tradition, Toronto members of the Yale University Alumni joined WBS volunteers to help tidy up the flourishing garden around the Sorauren Fieldhouse on May 12.

Every year, Yale declares a worldwide “Yale Day of Service” in which local alumni volunteer for neighbourhood projects. This is the third year a Yale group has helped out at Sorauren, such that the garden around the Fieldhouse is becoming known as the “Yale garden.”

Thanks to the volunteers for helping to weed, prune and spread a new layer of wood chips. Thanks to park supervisor Daniel Vala and his crew at Parks, Forestry and Recreation for providing the wood chips and support. Thanks to Jen Kowalski and Mary Tremain for leading the day. See you in the garden next year!

Kara and Tannis from the Yale alumni

Jen, Jean (from Yale), Ray and Sara sprucing up the front garden on Wabash

It’s a path again