Janewalking in Dovercourt Village
[attach]1592[/attach]As a way to remember urban activist Jane Jacobs, a group of her friends created a series of walks throughout our city. This year, on the first weekend in May, more than 120 free, guided Jane’s Walks took place. Though there were many options to choose from on May 2, there was of course, only one contender for me: the Dovercourt Village tour guided by my nephew Lewis Poplak.
The tour starts in Dovercourt Park, about six acres in size, which forms the cool, green heart of Dovercourt Village. Lewis, an architect by training, an urban planner and real-estate developer by trade, he introduced himself to the 60 or so people gathered for the walk. Lewis started doing research on local history after moving into the area three years ago and welcomed the opportunity to host a Jane’s Walk.
Lewis described the area as a typical Toronto streetcar neighbourhood, developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1888, Dovercourt Village, bounded by the Ontario and Quebec railway to the north, Bloor Street to the south, Dufferin Street to the west and Cumberland (now Delaware Avenue) to the east, was annexed into Toronto. As early as 1901, the Toronto Railway Company, a private precursor of the TTC, had electric streetcars supplying the area.
Despite easy access to public transportation, residents stayed close to home after leaving school, young people found employment locally at places like the old Eaton’s factory, Bell Telephone, Loblaws headquarters, Neilson Dairy or at the aircraft factory that opened on Dufferin just after the outbreak of World War I.
The area’s classic planning template includes the park at its centre, a commercial strip at Dovercourt Road and Hallam Street, where the Progress Bakery (“Great custard tarts,” enthused Lewis) and Sone’s Pharmacy are reminders of former grandeur, and corner stores that interact with the sidewalk.
Lewis stopped at a townhouse development at the northwest corner of Hallam and Westmoreland Avenue, where the Westmoreland United Church once stood. He pointed out that this development is typical of a trend in the neighbourhood that has seen infill townhouses replace buildings like a furniture factory and the old Loblaws store.
Residents, past and present, weighed in with memories and information. We stop on Bartlett Avenue in front of the Dovercourt Junior Public School. Margaret Vickers, who lived in the area in the 1930s, said Eaton’s had stables in the vicinity, and this street was the very best spot to watch the build-up to the annual Santa Claus parade. Adam Redish spoke of the church was bought by a movie company with the express purpose of blowing it up. As we approach Bloor Street at the end of the tour, Wendy Peebles reminded us that an area butcher handed out thousands of kilograms of chicken to clients and the public after he won the lottery in 2008.
Lewis said he loves rear lanes, and lamented that there are so few in the Dovercourt area. He took the group down a laneway, quipping that he’d never seen so many shady characters in a back lane at one time.
[attach]1593[/attach]Highlights of the tour: Dovercourt House, now home to performance companies and dance schools, previously a Legion hall, originally the Bais Yehuda synagogue; a clutch of Victorian houses at the intersection of Northumberland Street and Westmoreland Avenue, the ones on the north side of Northumberland spare and simple, those on the south side gorgeously decorated with stained-glass windows and gingerbread trim; and the Paradise on Bloor, a heritage building and a fine example of a World War II–era Art Deco movie theatre.
As Poplak stopped to point out the features of Pendells Boilers, a former rope-making factory just north of Bloor, he inadvertently pressed the siren of the megaphone he’s put to good use on the tour so far. “Oops!” he says, “Sorry about that. But I did see some of you looking a bit sleepy.”
If one of the aims of Jane’s Walk is to mobilize the community to work together, the Dovercourt Village walk was a success: Lewis made connections with other area residents who share his interest in the greening of Hallam Street.
So if you didn’t get out on a Jane’s Walk in 2010, be sure to mark it down on your agenda for 2011. By then, there will probably be more than 150 walks in Toronto to choose from for janewalking. That’s a word I’ve just made up. It means crossing an urban street in a big group, led by a guy with a megaphone.
I found this article while researching my family history. My great grandfather, John Best, shoemaker, lived in 1108 Dovercourt Road, with his wife Edith née Carter. He was from Northern Ireland and she was from Brighton, England. He died at his home in Dovercourt Road in 1937. Any chance Margaret Vickers remembers this couple, and if so, any chance she might contact me?