Work begins on apartment building
Demolition of the old Acropol, previously the Gerrard Theatre, at 1908 Gerrard Street East, began in the middle of July.
From 1927 to 1953, 1908 Gerrard Street East was a 768-seat cinema, the Gerrard, (I first found a reference to it on this www.world-theatres.com page, and more recently a post from someone who had seen his first 3D movie there, but didn't remember the name.)
When I moved into the area, it was the Acropol Cultural Centre. I don't know how long that had been there. When did it open? Was anything there between it and the theatre?
The only reference I have found on the WWW for the Acropol, other than listings in largely out-of-date and incorrect restaurant directories is from the provincial legislature in which then Beaches-East York MPP Frances Lankin, referred to having been there.
A proposal was on the agenda of the city's Affordable Housing Committee last Tuesday (Nov. 13) for a development comprising 29 1-bedroom units for "persons who have experienced homelessness and/or mental illness". (Here are some more details, primarily about physical and financial aspects of the proposal.)
A note from Councillor Sandra Bussin's office, forwarded to me the day before the meeting, said:
The Councillor has only recently been informed of this proposal. She will attend tomorrow morning's meeting of the Affordable Housing Committee and ask for a deferral of this item to allow for public consultation.
Following the meeting, I received this note:
Councillor Bussin has requested that Senior City Staff attend a community open house re: 1908 Gerrard St. E. Residents will receive notification when the meeting has been finalized.
Meeting November 27
The open house regarding 1908 Gerrard took place on November 27, 2007 from 5pm to 8:00pm at the Fairmount Community Centre, 1757 Gerrard Street East.
Links
- From the National Post, 13 December 2007, City will not halt Gerrard Street complex for mentally ill.
- Not a Done Deal, a website by members of the commuinity opposed to the proposed development.
- The background information for the proposal is in backgroundfile-8048.pdf.
- Here is the Committee of Adjustment decision, July 2004, which approved "the construction of a five storey mixed-use building comprised of retail on the ground floor level and 16 dwelling units on the upper levels". [This is a page generated by Google; does anyone have a link to the original document, which is probably a PDF file?]
- There is a reference to a condominium project on the site, The Glenmore, being approved in 2005.
- There is also a blog for discussion of the project.
- The HomeComing Coalition has an article in support of the project.
- An article in the East York-Riverdale edition of The Mirror has more information about the development.
- ...as does an article in The Toronto Star.
- Discussion about the proposal has also been taking place on Beachers' Corner.