10
EESTI ELU reedel, 27. märtsil 2020 — Friday, March 27, 2020
Tartu College from Concept to Reality – Vision, Opportunity and Risk Tartu College (TC) started its first full year of operation as a student residence in Sep tember 1970. Its location was ideal for students to be close to the downtown campus of the University of Toronto. The building was made possible by the Federal Government’s po licy of promoting and increas ing higher education in Cana da, which necessitated in creased student living spaces. Central Housing & Mortgage Corporation [CMHC, now Canada Mortgage and Housing Cor poration] supported the building of student residences by offering CMHC 50 year mortgages for 90% of the con struction cost of these build ings. Tampold Wells Architects and their sister organization Student Manage ment Services Ltd. (whose President was Elmar Tampõld) used this op portunity to plan and build nu merous such buildings across Eastern Canada. They included student residences at university campuses in Ottawa, Frederic ton, Moncton, Halifax, Waterloo and Toronto. Their experience and know ledge with the student housing market encouraged Elmar Tampõld to propose the con struction of a high-rise student residence to his fraternity Korp! Sakala and subsequently to other Estonian fraternities which could also serve as a common home for all. The fraternities had recently lost their leased konvendi maja at 42 Bedford Avenue in the Annex. To show this to be more than a concep tual plan, and with considerable foresight, Elmar Tampõld prepurchased (with an Option to Buy) a building in 1965 at the corner of Bloor St. W. and Madison Avenue (310 Bloor Street West) from its owner, Dr. Herbert Bowen. In 1967, discussions began in earnest amongst Eesti Korporat sioon Liit (EKL) members to plan out the requirements for a shared home, an ühismaja, for all of the Estonian academic fraternities, sororities and so cieties active in Toronto. As a first step, Tartu College was legally established as a Not for Profit Corporation by the Pro vince of Ontario on November 8, 1967. The founding Directors of TC met in November 1967 and authorized issuing $400,000 of Series A Debentures yielding 7% per annum (each valued at $400) maturing on Dec. 1, 1997. These funds were intended as the basis for securing the CMHC mortgage to construct the building. In addition, they made the decision to also pur chase the neighbouring lot at 302 Bloor St. W. to increase the size of the potential develop ment on the site. The two lots were purchased for a total of $450,000 and make up the current TC site. Student Management Ser vices paid for the 310 Bloor St. W. lot with a $50,000 down
payment. The balance of the purchased cost was paid for with a 2 year vendor-take-back (VTB) mortgage at a 7% interest rate. The 302 Bloor St. W. lot was paid for with a $15,000 down payment and the remain der secured with a 3 year VTB mortgage at 7% interest. This downpayment was made pos sible by three $5,000 loans taken out by Edmund Waldin, Tõnis Laar and Johannes Paha pill, all Directors of Tartu College. On April 23, 1968, CMHC agreed to make a loan under the National Housing Act, to finance the construction of this student housing project at 302 and 310 Bloor W. There were however numerous conditions to fulfill. The first mortgage was to be the lesser of $3.011 M or 90% of the construction cost, repay able over 50 years, at 67/8 % interest per annum. As condi tions for this loan, CMHC would have to approve the working drawings and specifications for the building, construction super vision would need to be carried out by a qualified architect or engineer, and there would be a 15% holdback on the value of the work completed “until the project has been fully completed and the statutory period for the filing of mechanics liens has expired”. The final cost of the project required certification by an auditor, approved by the CMHC and supported by other data as CMHC would require. In addition, CMHC’s commit ment would cease if their conditions were not met or if construction of the project did not start within six months from the date of their approval letter. Development continued quick ly and numerous agreements needed to be completed for the required approvals and before construction could begin. The City of Toronto demanded 112 parking spaces for this develop ment as per their planning by-laws. This required lengthy negotiations with the Toronto Transit Committee (TTC) and Metropolitan Toronto. The only way to provide such a solution was to build underground park ing and supplement the parking requirement with outdoor park ing on the vacant TTC right-ofway land, beside TC. This is now the site for the new Inter national Estonian Centre. The City’s Committee of Adjustment approval for ‘minor variances’ was received on September 30, 1968. It provided for ‘the number of motor vehicle parking spaces required by by-law to be provided and maintained in conjunction with the use of the subject parcel of land as an apartment-hotel’. [The City had no proper zoning definition for student residences
and thus TC was classified as an apartment hotel]. The Muni cipality of Metropolitan Toronto gave TC a lease on the parking lot property for 31 years, with a further 31 year option, to allow TC to have the required parking demanded by the City of To ronto. This lease between Metro Toronto and Tartu College was signed on September 13, 1968. In addition, letters of appro val and concurrence were re quired from the University of Toronto and the Ontario Govern ment prior to any CMHC fund ing approval. As well, numerous meetings with the City took place, drawings and specifica tions needed to be completed, a detailed construction budget was established for submission to the CMHC, a Committee of Adjustment hearing needed to be held and much more. The project was progressing rapidly in the second half of 1968. The building permit application was filed on June 28, 1968 and the demolition of the houses at 302 and 310 Bloor Street W. was begun. A stipulated sum con struction contract was signed with AG Murphy Construction Ltd. Issues arose related to the building permit application. TC was forced to ask for an exemp tion to their application when a new by-law was passed after the building permit submission to the City. This by-law would have necessitated a complete redesign of the structure and a reapplication for a revised CMHC mortgage. The exemp tion was granted with the pro viso that an indemnity agree ment was entered into. This Indemnity Agreement was signed by the City of Toronto and Elmar Tampõld personally who had to enter into a Line of Credit with the Bank of Mont real (BMO) for $150,000. At the time TC did not have the financial wherewithal to sign such an indemnity, which read “That he will indemnify and save harmless the City and the Commissioner from and against any liability for damages, loss, costs or expenses, incurred by any reason of or in any way arising out of the issuing by the Commissioner to the Owner or to Tartu College of a building permit...” Without this indem nity and without the 112 park ing spaces, a building permit would not have been issued. At their October TC Board meeting, the building plans were amended with an increase in construction costs of $130,000 and a corresponding increase in their first mortgage with CMHC. This was mainly due to the addition of the G Floor (the semi-buried floor where the Estonian fraternities and so cieties are based) to the scope of the project. By year end, a building per mit had been issued, the two building lots 302 and 310 Bloor St. W. were transferred to Tartu College from SMS (for the sum
Nr. 12
Eesti Sihtkapitali Kanadas stipendiaat
Krista Poolsaar Krista Poolsaar is one of 7 exceptional Canadian-Estonian youth to be granted a 2019 EFC Scholarship. Krista Pool saar is currently in the 3rd year of a Mechanical Engineering degree at Ryerson University in Toronto. Growing up in the Toronto Estonian community, Krista attended Estonian school and girl guides. She also volunteered as a guide leader and was a camp co-director at Kotkajärve this past summer. On being Estonian: “Being Estonian means having a com munity of people with a similar back ground to connect with. It is almost like an extremely extend ed family. Eesti is a small player in a large world, but I see the contribution Estonians make beyond their small size … [also] demonstrating our collective pride in our culture. Staying strong and confident in our traditions and accom plishments makes us relevant and provides a sense of identity and pride for me personally and contributes to a better world in general.” On the role of EFC: “EFC is important to the community because it helps provide the necessary resources to maintain our community. Without the means to organize cultural events and otherwise foster important connections, we would be less connected to our heritage and people. By raising the funds and coordinating expertise, especially for Eesti Kool, Jõekääru, and Seedrioru, [as well as] koorid and Kungla, the Foundation…helps carry on traditions [and] makes sure that we will have a strong future here in Canada.” ••• Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Estonian Foundation of Canada has granted over 130 scholarships to CanadianEstonian youth since 2003. See www.estonianfoundation.ca for details on eligibility and application dates or to make a donation to help support youth in our community.
No Estonian basketball champion declared for the first time since 1942 ERR, March 2020 Due to the emergency situa tion caused by the corona virus outbreak, the Estonian Basketball Association has decided to cancel all national championships. The associa tion will not name a cham pion this year for the first time since 1942. “In basketball, the winner is determined by the tournament ranking system. As most Esto nian leagues did not make it to the decisive phase due to the coronavirus outbreak, we deemed it logical to not declare any national champions this year,” general secretary Keio Kuhi explained in a press state ment. The association did, how ever, approve the ranking lists of regular seasons. “We took into account points collected if
of $2 on Dec. 12, 1968 plus the outstanding mortgages on the properties). The homes on these lots were demolished and con struction of a new student residence building started. The problems had only begun. (To be continued) JAAN MERI (The President and Chair of the Board of Directors for Tartu College during the past 11 years.)
the same amount of games were played, then head-to-head matches and lastly, winning percentage if teams finished on a different number of games,” Kuhi added. The general classification of men’s national champion ship: 1. BC Kalev/Cramo, 2. Avis Utilitas Rapla, 3. Pärnu Sadam, 4. Tartu Ülikool, 5. Rakvere Tarvas, 6. Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ, 7. TalTech. The general classification of women’s national cham pionship: 1. Tallinna Ülikool, 2. Tartu Ülikool/Kalev, 3. G4S Noorteliiga. On Monday, Latvian-Esto nian Basketball League board also decided to not declare a champion for the 2019/2020 season. Latvian and Lithuanian bas ketball associations have, how ever, declared their respective national champions without any play-off games. VEF Riga were crowned champions in Latvia and Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithua nia. Reigning Estonian basketball champion BC Kalev/Cramo confirmed on Friday that their season had ended. One Kalev/ Cramo player has tested posi tive for the new coronavirus. According to the club, he is said to be well and asymp tomatic.
E STO N I A N LI F E Your source of news about Estonia and Estonians
