The facility at Ryerson Avenue and Queen Street West was a joint project of the city and the local business improvement district. The space included seating, a set of stairs, as well as a separate set of arches, costing about $450,000, according to community support group Alexandra and Encampment. But on July 12, it was destroyed, according to the group, which posted a video of two people destroying the facility on its Instagram account. “After the Alexandra Park camp was evicted last year, we all gathered there. In the absence of safe shelter, during the winter people slept under the benches because it was the warmest place they could go without being disturbed,” the group said. The parquet debacle has some city officials scratching their heads over what to do. While the land the park was built on was owned by the city, the seating and facilities were owned by the local business improvement district. “That’s what makes this case a little bit different,” Kuhn said. Joe Mihevc, who represents Ward 10, Spadina-Fort York.
Homeless people have the right “like any resident” to use space
While the city contributed several hundred thousand dollars to the project, Mihevc said, his office is trying to understand what authority the city of Toronto has to go after people who vandalized property the city helped pay for but may be privately owned. The councilor now has a motion before the city council this week to try to determine just that. Michevcs said he had heard some complaints about people experiencing homelessness congregating in the area and receiving food from religious communities at the site. But “they had as much right to be there as any Toronto resident,” he said. He also said his office has heard from many upset about the destruction of the park — “from local businesses, from local residents, from people who served the homeless community that gathered there and sometimes delivered meals at that very location.” “It served a public purpose,” he told CBC News, calling the disaster “reprehensible.”
Individuals acted “roguely”: BIA
In a statement on its website, the Queen West BIA said the parkette was scheduled to be dismantled and redesigned in mid-July by a third-party vendor, but that those who destroyed it last week were not authorized to do so. “There were people who started brazenly removing some of the seats and staging ahead of schedule without consent. Neither the City BIA Office nor the Queen Street West BIA had prior knowledge, consent or permission for any demolition to take place,” the statement said. . . Video of two people dismantling the facility at Queen West Street and Ryerson Avenue was posted on social media by the Alexandra Community and Encampment Support group. (@acesthatsus/Instagram) The BIA also said the parkette was originally built “to provide a safe place to take a break, eat some food, fill water bottles and quench your dog’s thirst as well.” However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and related issues, the space has also seen “unforeseen” uses, he says. As a result, it says it undertook “extensive efforts to clean and preserve the site from harmful materials that could endanger the public sphere.” According to the BIA, the redesign was intended to focus on security and lighting and was slated to take place in late summer or early fall. The organization did not take media requests Tuesday.
Advocate calls on vandals to ‘admit their guilt’
City spokesman Brad Ross called the incident “disappointing” and said the city helped clean up the debris and obtain fencing to help with any related safety issues. “We do not support any unauthorized demolition of any city property or any BIA property,” he said. Toronto police told CBC News they are not aware of any reports of the incident. Whether the facility’s redesign will bear any resemblance to the original arches is not yet clear. But Charles Tilden of the Alexandra Community and Encampment Support Group says for now he wants to see those responsible come forward. “If nothing else, I hope those who chose to destroy this public infrastructure realize the harm they have done,” he said. “I hope they will admit their fault and start with an apology and move on to replacement costs.”
