Good News - Protecting the Beachfront: The Hubbard - Wineva Properties
07/20/2010
Truly Beach Gems! The Hubbard-Wineva properties were built in 1929 and are the last residential properties that directly front onto the boardwalk and beach.
Last autumn, I asked the City of Toronto Heritage Preservation Services to investigate the heritage value of Hubbard-Wineva properties for the purpose of listing them as historically significant.
I am pleased to report that as the result of my request, the Toronto Heritage Preservation Services recommended the listing of the buildings early this year. The Toronto Preservation Board voted in favour of the recommendation at its meeting on April 30, 2010. Final approval at the Toronto-East York Community Council occurred at the May 28, 2010 meeting of the Community Council or at the June meeting.
The properties include: the Hubbard and Wineva properties on the south side of Hubbard Boulevard, between Wineva and Hammersmith Avenues, and the properties on the west side of Wineva Avenue, south of Hubbard Boulevard.
The 12 properties identified in the recommendations have cultural heritage value as an enclave of residential buildings from the 1920s that are among the last surviving dwellings with direct access to the waterfront in Toronto's Beaches neighbourhood. Their inclusion on the City's heritage inventory would enable staff to monitor the sites and encourage the retention of their heritage attributes and values.
Currently some of these properties are owned by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. The TCHC Board of Directors has indicated a desire to declare these properties surplus. The potential for the demolition and redevelopment of these properties as expensive lakefront condos is inevitable if they are not protected. The character and the heritage of our lakefront would certainly suffer in this scenario.
