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Volume 50 No. 1
BEACHMETRO.COM
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416-690-1032 • beyrima.ca RBerns-McGown-CO@ndp.on.ca
March 9, 2021
Beach Metro News begins its 50th year A
s the last person standing, who has been continually involved with this paper since it began, (well, since its fifth issue in May 1972), it is my pleasure to welcome you to the beginning of its 50th year. The impetus to start a local paper was the lack of community coverage by the main media. People wanted to know what was happening in their own neighbourhood, and what their politicians were doing. At the same time there was a plan for a network of expressways linking the growing suburbs to the old city of Toronto. It was generally opposed in Toronto. In the east end the proposed Scarborough Expressway would follow the rail line along Gerrard down Coxwell and link up with the Gardiner. The initial plan called for demolishing 1,200 homes, later changed to 706 in this neighbourhood. What better way to rally the citizens of Ward 9 and keep them informed and ready to act, than their own newspaper? (In 1971 the Spadina Expressway was cancelled, in 1974 the Scarborough
Sheila Blinoff Beach Metro News Special Advisor
Expressway was cancelled, and then it was curtains for the rest.) Like several current institutions that started here in the 1970s, Ward 9 News began at the old YMCA at 907 Kingston Road. That building had been shut down for a while when two Scarborough Road neighbours, Betty Stephen and Lenore Diaz, offered to keep the Y presence alive without recompense by running a drop-in for local groups if the Y would cover the utilities. Among those drawn to the building was a varied group of people interested in starting a paper. Eight came to the first meeting. A thousand flyers went out before the second meeting, and a crowd came. There were another six public meetings, and many informal ones behind the scenes. Towards the end of 1971, the group had a name for the paper
to reflect its local agenda and the current municipal district (Ward 9 Community News), and a constitution. It was to be not-forprofit and non-partisan. It would be distributed without charge to homes and businesses in the area by volunteers. Financing would come from the sale of advertising. Volunteers would be encouraged to get involved. A young engineer from Bingham Avenue, Doug White, was entrusted with overseeing the new venture. Doug had been hired on a recycling grant run out of the YMCA. He was re-directed to organize the paper while others washed bottles, crushed cans and cardboard, and promoted recycling on his behalf. All seemed well until two days before the first issue was due off the press on March 1, 1972. Norm Houghton, one of the founders and one of the most important leaders in the early years, had been talking to the staff at Seven News, the Riverdale paper that had been a template. He and they suggested there were Continued on Page 10
PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON
40 years and counting of cartooning with Bill Suddick
Beach Metro News cartoonist Bill Suddick is in his 40th year with the paper. Here he is with some of his calendars from decades past and his first cartoon from April of 1981. To find out more about Bill and his cartooning, please see our story on Page 10.
Concern and confusion over planned 17-storey building By Ali Raza, Local Initiative Reporter
Journalism
A NEW development proposed for Queen Street East and Coxwell Avenue is too tall for the neighbourhood and will set an unwanted precedent, some Beach residents are saying.
Residents are “concerned and confused” regarding a 17-storey development coming to 1631 Queen St. E.- despite guidelines that restrict height. Many who participated in the creation of the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines for the Beach in 2012 - guidelines that re-
stricted building heights to maintain a district agreed-upon character - are wondering what to make of a new Housing Now mixed-use development. “We’re somewhere on the spectrum between concerned and confused,” Jeffrey Levitt said. “It was kind of surprising to see the city
come out with this proposal.” Levitt was involved in developing the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines. He is supportive of the affordable housing initiative, stressing that is not the cause of concern among residents. The proposed height is the “elephant in the room,” he noted.
The site is located southeast of Queen Street East and Coxwell Avenue, and falls within the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines which cover building heights along Queen Street East in the Beach from Coxwell to Nursewood Road. Continued on Page 19