Wychwood Barns
Encyclopedia
Wychwood Barns is a park in midtown Toronto
. It contains housing for artists, public green space, a greenhouse
, a farmer's market, a beach volleyball
court, and office space for many local community group
s. The site is a total of 5,574 square metres (60,000 square feet).
http://twitter.com/wychwoodbarns
Wychwood Barns Community Association
http://www.wychwoodbarnscommunity.ca/
Music at the Barns
http://www.musicinthebarns.com/
Farmer's Market
http://www.thestop.org/green-barn-market
Brewery Market
http://brewerymarket.com/
for use by the Toronto Civic Railways (later the TTC
). The first of an eventual five maintenance buildings (the "barns") was built that year, acting as a streetcar maintenance facility. Streetcars accessed the site from the mainlines on St. Clair Avenue
, just to the north, using lines running down Wychwood Avenue on the east side of the property. A series of switches led to spur loops on the property, many of which were south of the enclosed barns, and used for storage. The facility was known within the TTC as the St. Clair Carhouse. Operations continued at the Carhouse until 1992, by which point a series of expansions at the nearby Hillcrest Complex had long made the Carhouse redundant.
, and $4.5-million from the City of Toronto.
plans were created. Friends of A New Park and Neighbours for 100% Park. Both groups leafleted the area surrounding the barns, in a fierce campaign for local opinion. Many events contributed to this schism, among them:
November 28, 2002: The redevelopment proposal, complete with amendments to the city's official plan, went for vote in Toronto City Council
. The vote was delayed due to the vote earlier in the day approving a bridge to Island Airport. When the vote was finally held at 1AM, city council immediately approved a motion to call the question with over 60% support, thus forgoing a formal debate
. The vote easily passed in a 20-10 vote as follows:
YES: Altobello; Augimeri; Bussin; Chow; Di Giorgio; Disero; Duguid; Flint; Hall; Johnston; Jones; Lindsay-Luby; McConnell; Mihevc; Miller; Moscoe; Nunziata; Pantalone; Rae; Silva;
NO: Holyday; Kelly; Korwin-Kuczynski; Minnan-Wong; Ootes; Shaw; Shiner; Sutherland; Tziretas; Walker
The passing of the motion without a formal debate was controversial. The group opposed to the plan, Neighbours for 100% Park, portrayed this as a procedural trick to force the project onto the neighbourhood:
Conversely, Friends of a New Park, which supported the plan, portrayed this as way to prevent opponents from further delaying the development:
Construction occurred between March 2007 and October 2008, with the official opening on November 20, 2008.
The goal of The Brewery Market is to give you the chance to try out the best beers available in Ontario in a comfortable and relaxed setting. Each week a different craft brewery will be featured, with a number of different beers available. 11 breweries in total will be featured in The Brewery Market’s summer 2011 series. Beer is served in full size 12 ounce servings, no sample sizes will be available. Over the course of the Brewery Market series you will be able to try all kinds of diverse styles and flavours from 11 of Ontario’s finest craft breweries.
Partial proceeds from The Brewery Market will help support The Stop’s many healthy food initiatives, which include community kitchens and gardens programs, community advocacy, urban agriculture projects, sustainable food systems education and perinatal care programs.
Blog TO announced the opening of Brewery Market with an online article
The Grid TO wrote about the Brewery Market, calling it Toronto’s answer to a Bavarian beer garden.
On Thursday August 4 2011, the inaugural summer concert was performed, featuring works by by J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, R.V. Williams and A. Piazzolla .
Wychwood Barns is a collection of 5 barns that was built on a 4.3 acre land [2]. The original barn was built in 1913 to 1921 as industrial building . They were original built out of brick cladding two story high with an interior steel structure that was exposed. Once the industrial components were striped from the shell, the space was able to be molded into the program. Lobko retained most of the exterior envelope only adding few additions of glazing. He programmed Barn 1 as a private live work studio and housing for community artist, while barn 2 was made into a community gathering space . The space became an open covered street that is two story high and 60 meters long, 10 meters wide. Barn 3 and 4 are private public spaces where non-profit organization can operate. In barn 4 especially is The Stop, a nonprofit organization that specialize in teaching children about food and healthy food choices . There are also a green house and community gardens in barn four. Finally Barn 5 was stripped of its roof and remains exposed to the elements. All that remain is the steel structure that forms the arcade.
Wychwood Barns is a great representation of early 20th century industrial architecture. Lobko really wanted to express how an industrial building can be converted into a community centre. It is an exciting piece of architecture that shares many old connections and will create new ones.
Midtown, Toronto
Midtown Toronto is an area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada roughly defined as the area north of Bloor Street and south of Lawrence Avenue, The east and west borders are somewhat defined as Bayview Avenue to Marlee Avenue/Oakwood Avenue/Ossington Avenue. The centre of this area is Yonge and Eglinton...
. It contains housing for artists, public green space, a greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
, a farmer's market, a beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
court, and office space for many local community group
Community Group
Community Group are a British political party in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, founded in 2001. The Community Group has four councillors serving on Doncaster Metropolitan Borough council....
s. The site is a total of 5,574 square metres (60,000 square feet).
Online Presence
@wychwoodbarnshttp://twitter.com/wychwoodbarns
Wychwood Barns Community Association
http://www.wychwoodbarnscommunity.ca/
Music at the Barns
http://www.musicinthebarns.com/
Farmer's Market
http://www.thestop.org/green-barn-market
Brewery Market
http://brewerymarket.com/
Industrial history
In 1913, the site was expropriated by the city of TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
for use by the Toronto Civic Railways (later the TTC
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
). The first of an eventual five maintenance buildings (the "barns") was built that year, acting as a streetcar maintenance facility. Streetcars accessed the site from the mainlines on St. Clair Avenue
St. Clair Avenue
St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road , north of Bloor Street and north of Queen Street....
, just to the north, using lines running down Wychwood Avenue on the east side of the property. A series of switches led to spur loops on the property, many of which were south of the enclosed barns, and used for storage. The facility was known within the TTC as the St. Clair Carhouse. Operations continued at the Carhouse until 1992, by which point a series of expansions at the nearby Hillcrest Complex had long made the Carhouse redundant.
Transfer of the property
The property was transferred to city ownership in 1996 for a nominal $1 fee. The City of Toronto currently leases the site to Artscape, a not-for-profit organization that develops and operates space for the arts, at $1 a year for 50 years. Artscape redeveloped the site, raising a total of $19-million including $2.3-million from the Federal Government, $3-million from OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, and $4.5-million from the City of Toronto.
Local controversy
Two rival groups with different views of the redevelopmentRedevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...
plans were created. Friends of A New Park and Neighbours for 100% Park. Both groups leafleted the area surrounding the barns, in a fierce campaign for local opinion. Many events contributed to this schism, among them:
November 28, 2002: The redevelopment proposal, complete with amendments to the city's official plan, went for vote in Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
. The vote was delayed due to the vote earlier in the day approving a bridge to Island Airport. When the vote was finally held at 1AM, city council immediately approved a motion to call the question with over 60% support, thus forgoing a formal debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
. The vote easily passed in a 20-10 vote as follows:
YES: Altobello; Augimeri; Bussin; Chow; Di Giorgio; Disero; Duguid; Flint; Hall; Johnston; Jones; Lindsay-Luby; McConnell; Mihevc; Miller; Moscoe; Nunziata; Pantalone; Rae; Silva;
NO: Holyday; Kelly; Korwin-Kuczynski; Minnan-Wong; Ootes; Shaw; Shiner; Sutherland; Tziretas; Walker
The passing of the motion without a formal debate was controversial. The group opposed to the plan, Neighbours for 100% Park, portrayed this as a procedural trick to force the project onto the neighbourhood:
"Councillor Mihevc was able to marshal a strict party line vote but what he did not do was adhere to the high ethical principles that he claims to maintain. One might have expected that the Wychwood Barns arguments would ebb & flow leading to a reasoned and acceptable decision. In this case, invented time constraints & ambition precluded debate & as a result, the Wychwood Barns Project was rammed into an unwilling neighbourhood."
Conversely, Friends of a New Park, which supported the plan, portrayed this as way to prevent opponents from further delaying the development:
"The intention on the part of certain councillors was to drag things on long enough to tip the balance in favour of those opposed or to create an opportunity for breaking quorum and having the issue deferred for another couple of months, thus allowing the issue to continue to fester in our neighbourhood for no good reason at all. As city staff had pointed out to councillors, our community is sick of this issue being unresolved for so long and needed to see some leadership asserted finally."
As a park
Today the Wychwood Barns functions as a successful multi-use park.Construction occurred between March 2007 and October 2008, with the official opening on November 20, 2008.
Brewery Market
The Brewery Market takes place on summer Sundays in Barn #4. The events are held in the Sheltered Garden of The Stop’s Green Barn, which is partially covered and outdoors, making it a perfect sumer time spot for a beer. On each Brewery Market Sunday, one can sample beers from a single Ontario brewery.The goal of The Brewery Market is to give you the chance to try out the best beers available in Ontario in a comfortable and relaxed setting. Each week a different craft brewery will be featured, with a number of different beers available. 11 breweries in total will be featured in The Brewery Market’s summer 2011 series. Beer is served in full size 12 ounce servings, no sample sizes will be available. Over the course of the Brewery Market series you will be able to try all kinds of diverse styles and flavours from 11 of Ontario’s finest craft breweries.
Partial proceeds from The Brewery Market will help support The Stop’s many healthy food initiatives, which include community kitchens and gardens programs, community advocacy, urban agriculture projects, sustainable food systems education and perinatal care programs.
Blog TO announced the opening of Brewery Market with an online article
The Grid TO wrote about the Brewery Market, calling it Toronto’s answer to a Bavarian beer garden.
Music at the Barns
Music in the Barns, Studio 164 at the Artscape Wychwood Barns, is a nexus for exploring and creating new avenues in the advancement of classical music. Music in the Barns functions as performer, presenter, and educator, by presenting events, concerts and educational opportunities. Its resident ensemble, The Music in the Barns Chamber Ensemble is made up of 8 leading musicians, gathering some of the most interesting and creative classical musicians in North America.On Thursday August 4 2011, the inaugural summer concert was performed, featuring works by by J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, R.V. Williams and A. Piazzolla .
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse was the response to a problem that was facing Wychwood Community. Wychwood Community identified the barns that are located south of St. Clair West on Christie Street as the problem. The buildings are a historical landmark that has been converted into a community centre. Architect Joe Lobko and City Councilor Joe Mihevc were able to transform Wychwood industrial buildings in to a multipurpose space . Lobko, with the help of the community, was able to identify the activities the Wychwood was missing. He came up with a program of activities that can educate the community, share a partnership with nonprofit organizations and allow Toronto’s culture to growWychwood Barns is a collection of 5 barns that was built on a 4.3 acre land [2]. The original barn was built in 1913 to 1921 as industrial building . They were original built out of brick cladding two story high with an interior steel structure that was exposed. Once the industrial components were striped from the shell, the space was able to be molded into the program. Lobko retained most of the exterior envelope only adding few additions of glazing. He programmed Barn 1 as a private live work studio and housing for community artist, while barn 2 was made into a community gathering space . The space became an open covered street that is two story high and 60 meters long, 10 meters wide. Barn 3 and 4 are private public spaces where non-profit organization can operate. In barn 4 especially is The Stop, a nonprofit organization that specialize in teaching children about food and healthy food choices . There are also a green house and community gardens in barn four. Finally Barn 5 was stripped of its roof and remains exposed to the elements. All that remain is the steel structure that forms the arcade.
Wychwood Barns is a great representation of early 20th century industrial architecture. Lobko really wanted to express how an industrial building can be converted into a community centre. It is an exciting piece of architecture that shares many old connections and will create new ones.