Purpose:

To address the request from the Etobicoke Community Council Report No.1 that the Acting Commissioners of Parks and Recreation forward a report summarizing the history of this project and advising on Terms of Reference and membership for a proposed Advisory Board for this facility.

Source of Funds:

A funding request in the amount of $3.1 million has been included in the 1998 Capital Budget.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that this report be received for information purposes.

Council Reference/Background/History:

In preparation for the former City of Etobicoke assuming ownership of the former Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital Assembly Hall, the Parks and Recreation Services Department, in June 1996, requested the services of a multi-disciplinary consultant team to study the feasibility of restoring the Assembly Hall. In September of 1996, following a proposal call, the former City of Etobicoke, engaged Graeme Page & Associates (Arts Management Consultants) and Philip Goldsmith & Company Ltd. Architects. The project was overseen by a Steering Committee consisting of staff and members of Council of the former City of Etobicoke and representatives from the community and special interest groups. A range of public input was included in the study process.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

As detailed in the final 1997 consultants report, the ($3.1 million) cost to restore the Assembly Hall for general use is relatively modest and compares very favourably with the cost of new construction.

The 11,250 square foot building built in 1898 is well located for public and private functions. Its history, architecture, and site features contribute to its appeal as a rental facility for commercial uses, as well as not-for-profit activities. Its size is ideal for a wide variety of cultural and community-based events. The building=s operating costs are projected to be affordable, assuming reasonable and achievable volumes of usage. Finally, the surrounding grounds lend themselves to seasonal outdoor programming which will expand as community use of the facility and the park intensifies.

The second-floor auditorium is likely to be used for a wide variety of community-based activities and private functions such as weddings and receptions, fundraising galas and dinners, a film series, public forums, school year-end celebrations, and other special events, as well as concerts, theatrical presentations, and art and craft exhibitions. The ground-floor meeting rooms can accommodate smaller scale versions of all the activities listed above, as well as meetings of existing cultural and community groups.

The former City of Etobicoke required that the plan for restoration of the facility be predicated on its ability to cover its operating costs. Projections indicate that the Assembly Hall will require a modest level of subsidy to avoid having property tax levied on the facility by maintaining an on-site staff presence. Apart from this single staff position, the facility is expected to cover all of its fixed and variable costs, including small capital repairs and maintenance by the third year of operation. By its fifth year, surpluses are projected to begin accumulating in a Building Renewal Fund which will protect the City from major capital repair costs fifteen or twenty years after the initial restoration.

Taken together, these attributes make the restoration project equally appealing to the former City of Etobicoke and to the general public.

It is the recommendation of staff that a Steering Committee and a Public Advisory Board be created to ensure that this project evolve in a manner suitable to all stakeholders and that development processes are clear to all involved.

The Steering Committee should be formed with representatives from a cross section of functional expertise and jurisdictional responsibility. The Committee should act as a co-ordinating and design review committee that will be responsible primarily for ensuring that the Assembly Hall project is developed and managed in a manner that is consistent with the original goals and objectives endorsed for this site by the former City of Etobicoke.

The Advisory Board, to be appointed by Council, should be comprised of members which represent a wide variety of interests, i.e., the arts, heritage, recreational facility users, area rate payers, special interest groups and area Councillors. The Board should provide input to the Steering Committee on matters dealing with the potential uses and programming of the Assembly Hall. The Advisory Board members should continue in this function after project completion to advise staff on community program issues and the activities of the new facility.

Conclusions:

The Assembly Hall and its immediate surroundings have been recognized by the former City of Etobicoke and Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation as being significant elements in the history and formation of the Lakeshore Grounds. An amount of $3.1 million dollars has been included in the 1998 Capital Budget allocation for this project.

Copies of the entire consultants report for the Committee members to review are available through the Etobicoke Civic Service Centre.

Contact Names:

Franco Lora - Tel: (416)394-8765, Fax: (416)394-8935

Co-ordinator of Planning and Policy,

Toronto Parks and Recreation, Etobicoke Office

Mark Edelman - Tel: (416)394-8514, Fax: (416)394-8935

Manager of Park Planning and Development,

Toronto Parks and Recreation, Etobicoke Office

The Etobicoke Community Council submits the following communication (February 18, 1998) from Councillor Irene Jones, Lakeshore-Queensway:

The Assembly Hall lies at the very heart of South Etobicoke, and has served as a Lakeshore community centre for most of a century.

It was originally constructed using patient labour in 1897 to provide the residents of the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital with a recreational facility and a place to come together as a community; as such, it served as a place of healing, celebration and worship. In the earliest days, the second floor of the Assembly Hall was used for performances and dances by the residents of the Psychiatric Hospital - and on Sundays the chairs were turned to face the chapel at the south end so the residents could worship.

From the beginning, the Psychiatric Hospital Site has been a therapeutic focus in the Lakeshore: "For the past 100 years it has been distinctive. The site has been deliberately planned, built, planted and maintained with a number special purposes in mind. It has been a therapeutic landscape, a place for agricultural production and a place for recreation."¹

During the economically depressed years of the early 1930's, the Assembly Hall was the only facility of sizeable proportions in New Toronto, and as such it was often loaned out by the Hospital to the community for fundraising, and has at various times hosted boxing and wrestling events. In 1921, Harvey "Daddy" Henderson, a much loved attendant employed at the hospital, was laid in state at the Assembly Hall for three days following his death; in the late 1920's, it was in the Assembly Hall that the residents of Mimico, New Toronto and Long Branch celebrated the "double tracking" of the Lakeshore street car by the TTC. In one of its last theatrical uses, December 1969, students of St. Teresa's School performed Dickens A Christmas Carol and A Charley Brown Christmas for the entertainment of staff and patients.

Since the closing of the hospital in 1975, the hall has been used predominantly by film makers who were primarily responsible for the deterioration of the interior, while bureaucratic indifference, the impact of nature and the ravages of vandalism have threatened the fabric of the building.

One hundred years has passed and the Lakeshore community is desperately in need of a centre, a place where they can gather to celebrate. In response to this community identified need, three separate studies have reached the same conclusion. From The South Etobicoke Cultural Strategic Plan,² the lack of facilities was identified as a priority: "In terms of facilities for cultural interests, South Etobicoke looks positively anaemic when compared to other communities of similar size." The lack of exhibition and gallery space, the absence of theatre space for community scale performances and the need for outdoor amphitheatre spaces for the park were all well documented.

The conclusion in The Lakeshore Grounds: Master Design and Implementation Plan reinforces this: "The former Assembly Hall should be refurbished to meet a variety of local cultural needs. This is an important location because of the proximity to Lakeshore Boulevard West and the resulting high level of visibility. It is proposed that the area be designated as a main park activity centre and that the exterior area be designed to include a multipurpose pedestrian plaza with seating areas, a playground (design inspired by artists) and a sculpture garden."³

The third report, Lakeshore Assembly Hall, Final Report is the culmination of the community's hopes. Under the direction of a broadly based Steering Committee, Graeme Page Associates and Philip Goldsmith & Company Ltd. Architect, were commissioned to carry out a feasibility study. A thorough review of previous research, interviews with potential users and focus groups of local residents of South Etobicoke confirmed the value of returning the hall to the community: "Once restored, the Assembly Hall could go a long way toward meeting the immediate and longer term needs expressed by many of the organizations and individuals who reside in the area."⁴

Throughout, two things have been abundantly clear. First, the Assembly Hall is recognized by this community as a landmark and it must be preserved. Second, the renovated facility must be user friendly, offer flexibility and accessibility, and be sustainable.

The solutions offered by the consultants of the feasibility study respond well to these needs. The preservation of the external fabric has been achieved as the entrance way, the glass enclosed elevator and the landscaping are all intended to heighten, not obscure the natural beauty of this historical building; the inclusion of an amphitheatre on the east side and the public square on the north are consistent with this. The auditorium creates opportunities for music, dance and theatrical presentations, as well as community events like weddings, banquets and exhibitions. The gallery space on the ground floor, and the supporting services, fill a major gap in South Etobicoke.

The power of symbols is undeniable, and the Assembly Hall has that power. In 1998, the hundredth anniversary of its creation, the city has a chance to return the Assembly Hall to the residents of the Lakeshore. Estimated to cost three million dollars, this is reasonable project at this time; budgeted to break even operationally in three years, this is good value for money for a community centre. Located at a major juncture of the city and the lake, and Assembly Hall has merit across many dimensions: fiscal, social, communal, cultural and historic. Now is the time, during this anniversary year, to assemble the hall.... together.