Our neighbours at Dixon Hall would like to invite our local businesses to the following event:

Dixon Hall/RBC Royal Bank Small Business Advice & Networking Event

Thursday, January 19th from 6:30PM – 8:30PM

Location: Dixon Hall Employment Services Centre, 489 Queen St. E. (Suite 300) – Queen and Sumach Streets

Dixon Hall Employment Services Centre is a full service employment agency with a mandate to connect job seekers with employers. With all services free of charge, Dixon Hall offers complete human resources solutions to small businesses, ranging from recruitment support to ongoing personnel maintenance.

Come learn about the services offered, meet other businesses, and discover how working with Dixon Hall and RBC Royal Bank can benefit your bottom line.

Light refreshments and snacks will be served

Please RSVP to: joyce.affroh@dixonhall.org by January 16th, 2012

Tagged with:
 

The Corktown Residents and Business Association wishes our neighbours and everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

We’re excited by the great turnout to the December meeting where we discussed various items on development, streetscape improvements, and new neighbours. The CRBA looks forward to continue this discussion in 2012.

Due to the proximity to the holidays, the January 2011 Public Meeting has been rescheduled to January 10, 2012 (the second Tuesday of the month). We hope to see you there.

 

A reminder that Corktown’s monthly public meeting will be taking place Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the back room at the Dominion On Queen (500 Queen Street East). Come out to get the latest information and news, including a much anticipated update for the Queen Street Beautification Project – we want to hear what you think of the initial concepts!

 

As part of the development of the West Don Lands, there will be changes to the King-Queen-River-Bayview intersection that forms the eastern gateway into Corktown. The Bayview Avenue ramp, a mainstay in the community since the construction of the Queen Street Viaduct in 1911, will be closing and the first three streets in the West Don Lands will be opening:

  • Bayview Avenue will extend south to ultimately connect with Mill Street (but will only open to Lawren Harris Square in the short-term);
  • River Street will extend south from King Street as Lower River Street; and
  • Lawren Harris Square, which will form the southern terminus of Lower River Street and provide a connection to Bayview Avenue. (see report recommending the naming of the new streets here [PDF])

The closure of the Bayview Avenue ramp is necessary to complete the Don River Flood Protection Landform. As part of the changes, there will be also be a need to reconfigure River Street between King Street and Queen Street to align with Lower River Street at King Street.  The alterations to River Street were considered by the Toronto and East York Community Council at its meeting this past Wednesday, November 2nd (Item 2011.TE11.49: Road Alterations -River Street Between Queen Street East and King Street East).

River Street Realignment Between King and Queen Streets (adapted from City of Toronto staff report 2011.TE11.49)

The alterations include the removal of the ramp to Bayview Avenue and the curving River Street to the east to properly meet with Lower River Street at King Street. Traffic signals will be added at the King and River intersection. The CRBA requested for the improvement of the public realm on the west side of River Street to reflect the prominence of the intersection as a gateway into Corktown, the West Don Lands and Downtown Toronto. As a result, an amendment was moved and approved, which added the following to the motion:

1. City Council direct the Public Realm Section, Transportation Services. to work with the Corktown Residents and Business Association and its development committee to identify future public realm opportunities including a signature gateway feature into Corktown, the West Don Lands and Downtown Toronto on River Street in the vicinity of Queen Street East and King Street East.

The CRBA is looking forward to working with the City to ensure that we take advantage of this opportunity to improve our neighbourhood.

Read the CRBA submission on 2011.TE11.49 [PDF]

 

Welcome to the new Corktown.ca! We’ve been working toward improving the type of information and how we can spread the word to the community – revamping the CRBA’s website is seen as a key part of this strategy.

The new Corktown.ca is not just a visual refresh, but we have migrated to a new publishing platform, WordPress, which provides more simplicity and flexibility so we can get information out on a more timely basis. We’re also working on adding some new features which will make their debut over the next few months.

One of the features I’ve been most excited to bring about is our Historic Corktown section, which places a number of Toronto Archives photos onto a map. We have such a rich history in the neighbourhood and this is a great way for us to see for ourselves how much Corktown has changed. Check it out here.

We appreciate any feedback you may have – email us at info@corktown.ca

Tagged with:
 

Waterfront Toronto has provided a construction update for the Cherry Street closure between Lake Shore Boulevard and Mill Street, which will begin on Monday, October 31 and last for approximately two months. The closure is required to build a part of the West Don Lands stormwater management system.

Read more: Waterfront Toronto Construction Update – October 28, 2011 (PDF)

Map: Cherry Street Closure and Detour Map (PDF)

 

Tagged with:
 

The CRBA’s November meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 1st at 7:00 p.m. in the back room at The Dominion on Queen (500 Queen Street East). Join your neighbours for an update on  the latest community initiatives and developments.

This month’s guest speaker will be well-known local historian Bruce Bell.

 

The following lists past construction updates for the West Don Lands, as provided by Waterfront Toronto. Newer updates can be viewed through Corktown.ca’s postings under the West Don Lands category.

Construction Liasion Committee Terms of Reference January 2011 — PDF

Construction Updates – from Waterfront Toronto

West Don Lands Construction Liaison Committee Minutes

Tagged with: