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28 June 2010

Clouds clear for successful Totstock Festival

The rain held off last Sunday for another successful Totstock festival organized by The Little Paper and managed by a huge crew of volunteers. The event gets better each year. Proceeds from the raffle were donated to the non-profit Wabash Building Society for park improvements including more trees and plants around the Fieldhouse to accompany the new patio (see below).

Visit the Totstock web page for more info including all the sponsors such as presenting sponsor Fiesta Farms.

28 June 2010

Patio Phase 1 and 2 complete!

Another hard-working volunteer crew led by Mike Dica and Grant from Eco-scapes by Design has finished the second phase of the beautiful new community patio at the Fieldhouse.

The second phase created a path from Wabash Avenue around the side of the building to the main washroom door, and connected to the rectangular patio built a few weeks ago.

Thanks to Crew 2 including Karen, Boran, Helena, Philip, Isaac, Nathan, Eliza, Nathan, Emma, Scott, Stephen.

For more pictures of the new patio and the work crew, click here.

18 April 2010

Environment Day a success despite flurries (!) and chill

Mayor Miller warms up with a coffee in the Fieldhouse

It was a chilly day but in the end, the 2010 Environment Day was another success. This year’s outing, hosted by Councillor Gord Perks, included a visit by Mayor David Miller and media crews.

Crowds packed the Open House in the Fieldhouse to learn about park programs and community groups.

Special thanks to the groups that participated, and the following businesses and volunteers and the many others who helped to make the day a success:

Roncesvalles Starbucks

Mitzi’s

3rd Toronto Scout Troop

Dundas West Loblaws

Parkdale Community Centre

Maple Leaf Foods

Howard Earth Buddies

Open House coordinator Laurie Meher and husband Todd (who braved the cold by the BBQ)

City of Toronto staff and police

12 December 2009

City publishes final report of Green Feasibility Study for Wabash Community Centre

 

The City has published the beautiful final report of the Green Feasibility Study for the Wabash Community Centre. The project took place over 2009 and included many community consultations.

The report was funded by the City and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and was produced by Oleson Worland_Taylor Smyth Architects in joint venture.

 

To see some of the pictures from the report, click here. Note: The full report is a large PDF file, approx. 30 MB. You can download it by clicking here:

http://www.toronto.ca/parks/pdf/wabash2009-11-24_final-report.pdf 

The Wabash Building Society continues to work on “next steps” for raising the necessary funds and generating the political will to get the community centre built. The next WBS meeting is Thursday, Jan. 7 at the Sorauren Fieldhouse, and all are invited.

Pumpkin Sale raises $2,000

The second annual Pumpkin Sale at the Fieldhouse has raised more than $2,000 for the Fieldhouse fund managed by the Wabash Building Society. Many thanks to Chander Chaddah Real Estate and TD Canada Trust residential mortgage manager Joanna Makaroff for their great efforts again this year.

Pumpkin Parade biggest ever

We counted 1,620 pumpkins by the time we left the Nov. 1 Pumpkin Parade... with pumpkins still arriving at the park on a beautiful full-moon evening. Thanks to everyone who came out, thanks to those who organize it (a modest group... only you know who you are), and a big thank-you to Parks staff who collect the pumpkins afterwards for composting.

Clean Train Coalition update

The fight for electrification of the Georgetown rail corridor running beside the park is not over. The Coalition has filed a formal complaint with the Provincial Ombudsman in response to Metrolinx's recent campaign of misinformation which attempts to mislead the public regarding the Medical Officer of Health's position on their proposal for the Georgetown corridor. Dr. McKeown continues to advocate strongly for electrification of the corridor.  Metrolinx has grossly misused our tax dollars to misrepresent Dr. McKeown's position and mislead the public.

Visit the Clean Train Coalition site for full updates: http://www.cleantrain.ca/

26 September 2009

Human Train for Clean Air rally at Sorauren draws crowds and VIPs

The protest to stop Metrolinx’s plan to increase diesel train traffic from 40 to 400 trains per day along the rail line by the park took the form of huge rally at Sorauren Park today. The “Human Train for Clean Air,” marching from Weston, was ushered into the park with whistles and cheers from a waiting crowd.

Politicians and VIPs including Councillor Gord Perks, MPP Cheri DiNovo, MP Gerard Kennedy, councillors Adam Giambrone and Adam Vaughan, TDSB trustee Irene Atkinson, former MP Peggy Nash, and Toronto’s medical officer of health Dr. David McKeown all spoke against the diesel plan, in favour of electrification.

The rally, organized by the Clean Train Coalition with helpf from the Wabash Building Society and many other groups along the rail line, called for electrification of the rail line now rather than 15 years from now. For more information on the campaign visit www.cleantrain.ca.

Picture below by Gary Beechey. For more pictures from the event, click here to see Gary’s gallery.

12 September 2009

Event marks history of Sorauren Avenue Park

The Roncesvalles Village Historical Society has produced a video with former mayor Barbara Hall, current councillor Gord Perks, and TDSB trustee Irene Atkinson who remember the early days in the battle to develop Sorauren Park... it was destined to be a garage for municipal garbage trucks after the TTC abandoned the site. Click on the video below to learn the story.

8 February 2009

How to use the Sorauren Park Fieldhouse for your group or event

The Fieldhouse is now available for rental by organizations and individuals for events like birthday parties, classes, meetings, workshops. Click on the Permits page for full details.

5 November 2008

“Lake Wabash” update

You may be wondering what’s happening with the piles of dirt in “Lake Wabash,” the depression in the off-leash area that becomes a collecting pond during rainy periods. We understand the grading is being raised so that run-off is directed westward down the swale that runs along the path beside the soccer field, terminating in a catch basin. Watch for the piles to be spread over Lake Wabash soon.

18 October 2008

A beautiful day for planting

A hardy crew descended on the Fieldhouse site this morning to plant the latest batch of 13 native trees and 18 clematis plants (along the fence line); click here for pictures. It was a beautiful morning and there was much excitement when Justine stumbled across a nest of pink, fur-less and madly squeaking newborn mice in the hot mulch pile.

Many thanks to Jonas and crew from Ecoman residential landscaping for helping us man-handle the big hawthorns into place, along with planting other trees. The trees have been purchased thanks to a grant from the Evergreen Wal-Mart Common Grounds Fund.

Special thanks also to Mary and Victoria from Plant Architect, Jennifer from Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation, David from Oleson Worland Architects and all the other volunteers for their hard work and dedication.

10 October 2008

Painting and subflooring days

a success

Thanks to all the volunteers and donors who helped with

our successful painting day on Sept. 27 and the subfloor installation on Oct. 4.

An enthusiastic crew led by volunteer paint captains Susan Vandendam and Douglas Shepherd finished both the upstairs and downstairs painting. Paint and supplies were generously donated by High Park Paint and Wallpaper (thanks Frank!) and Pollocks Home Hardware (thanks Len!). Special thanks to all the volunteer adults and kids, and the crew from Metro Girl Fitness. For more pictures, click here.

The following Saturday, Kevin, Rob, Andy, and Jennifer provided the main volunteer labour for the downstairs subfloor installation. The new final floor has been donated by Pollocks Carpet Market (thanks Guilio!) and installation began this week. Click here for more photos.

Upstairs flooring has been donated by Bousada Flooring and installation is imminent.  

31 May 2008

Plants go in, more to come

The first Fieldhouse planting day was a success with dozens of native shrubs planted on the south and east side of building, and couple of trees planted on the north side. More…

24 May 2008

First neighbourhood-wide yard sale a fundraiser for Sorauren Fieldhouse/Wabash campaigns

This Saturday, May 31 marks the first neighbourhood-wide yard sale.... and the organizers are asking participants to donate 10% of their proceeds to the Sorauren/Wabash campaigns! More…

5 May 2008

Fieldhouse ribbon-cutting with Mayor Miller a big success

The Sorauren Park Fieldhouse was officially opened May 5 with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by approximately 600 residents and a gathering of VIPs. More…

21 April 2008

Fieldhouse open house attracts crowds; May 5 ribbon cutting and BBQ coming next!

Hundreds of residents and visitors got their first inside peek at the new Sorauren Park Fieldhouse at the April 19 open house. More…

1 February 2008

A new web site for Sorauren Park

Welcome to SoraurenPark.com, a new site designed to connect all park users and organizations, and to provide news and information about upcoming events and the new Fieldhouse.

The site is maintained by the Wabash Building Society, a non-profit, volunteer-run, community-based organization dedicated to developing the City-owned property along the southern edge of the park (Wabash Avenue) into new recreational and community facilities. The Sorauren Park Fieldhouse is just the first phase of bringing the old industrial site back to life for community use.

Sorauren Park and all its related facilities are owned by the City of Toronto. If you have immediate issues related to park safety or maintenance, please contact Parks, Forestry and Recreation. The volunteers who maintain this site will also be able to forward your concerns, but it may take several days.

If you have ideas or comments on this site or the park, please use the Contact Us form to reach us. We encourage feedback. Keep in mind it may take a few days to answer queries. See you at the park!