Introduction

ThinkTankToronto now has several community based projects that can travel beyond the confines of our current 54East-end location. On the left hand side are some of our other most prominent projects. If your neighbourhood or Business Improvement Area (BIA) wants a local magazine or to make some of these other ideas come to life in your community let us know by emailing us at info@thinktanktoronto.ca.

Currently we are leading the "Golden Mile: City of Industry Tour" as part of Jane's Walk*

Time: Saturday May 3, 3:30 pm
Meeting place: The 54east Studio at 2068 Lawrence Avenue East at Warden, north east corner
TTC access: TTC access: From The RT station at Lawrence East take the 54 bus going west (15 mins). From Warden Station take the 68 bus north (15 mins). From Eglington Station take the 54 bus going west (45 mins)
Neighbourhood: East Scarborough Golden Mile district
Tour guides: Jeremy Hopkin and Professor Rafael Gomez will be joined by local residents and councillor Micheal Thompson to lead the guided tour.

 

(c) Queen Elisabeth II Visiting Golden Mile circa 1958

 (c) Jeremy Hopkin 2007

The Golden Mile “City of Industry Tour,” spanning Eglinton Avenue between Victoria Park and Warden Avenue, will cover the rise and fall of Scarborough’s manufacturing industry.  We will begin with the birthplace of Toronto's World War II effort: the still-standing GECO plant, a building which until 1945 was a key producer of munitions and which now survives as a flea market. These and other remnants of the industrial past of this neighbourhood, which at its height was home to 10,000 employees, will be contrasted to its earlier history, first as a First Nations settlement and then as an early farm settlement, and finally to its current incarnation as box-store outlet/super-centre/retail emporium.

The tour will be led by local historian Jeremy Hopkin (ThinkTankToronto Inc. and Scarborough Historical Society) and Professor Rafael Gomez (Glendon College, York University).

*Jane’s Walk is a coordinated series of free neighbourhood walking tours given by locals who care passionately about where they live, work and play. Jane’s Walk is about raising urban literacy by offering a pedestrian focused event that combines insights into urban history, planning, design and civic engagement with the simple act of walking and observing. So far, Jane’s Walk has happened in Toronto and New York in 2007, with plans to expand it to Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver in May 2008.

For more information click on: www.janeswalk.net