220 OAK STREET RENEWAL

By -

 220 Oak Street Renewal - A make-over is coming for a Regent Park landmark – new exterior and improved interior elements.

220 Oak Street is a Toronto Community Housing (TCH) high rise apartment building located on the edge of Regent Park. It stands at 27 stories and was completed in 1972. The residents are comprised mostly of low income families, single dwellers, seniors, young adults, unemployed people, students, and people with Physical and Mental health issues. The location has been identified as “one of TCH's most trouble addresses” (Betsy Powell, Toronto Star, Jan. 15, 2019).

But the image of a troubled spot is about to change. Perhaps as an extension of the Regent Park revitalization project, or perhaps on the grounds of its own particular circumstances, the wheels of change have been set in motion.

Toronto Community Housing is teaming up with LGA Architectural Partners to provide a substantial make-over to both the exterior and interior elements of the building. In a virtual presentation held July 15, 2021. Adam Pelissero, Program Manager, Design, Architectural at Toronto Community Housing introduces Danny Bartman and Sophie Tremblay from LGA Architectural Partners, who summarize the various changes and up-grades involved in the renewal project.

Like many renewal and revitalization initiatives, the 220 Oak Street Renewal is the result of a longer consultational process that involved tenant groups, TCH staff, and City of Toronto representatives. This process which kicked off 2019 formed what became “A Master Plan,” designed to address the following key areas: 


  1. Installation of New Windows - improving comfort level and ease of use.

  2. Added Insulation - will combine a new exterior surface improving the look of the building while adding better and more consistent temperature controls.

  3. improving the Look and Feel of your Balcony – the removal of existing safety guards, repair of the concrete slab, and replacement of new safety guards.

  4. Enhanced Safety, Security and Keeping Pigeons Away – new bird netting will improve cleanliness and help keep people and pets safe while not obstructing views.

  5. Improved Air Quality – new range hoods will result in a cleaner, fresher kitchen and apartment with improve ventilation throughout the building.

  6. Control Your Own Heat – new thermostats with direct control of your radiators will mean more comfort and greater reliability.

  7. Upgrades to Plumbing and Hot Water – Sufficient supply of hot water at comfortable temperatures and improved water pressure, and the replacement of the hot water system equipment and piping.

     

 And finally, the exterior of the building will have a completely new facade that incorporates new metal cladding, new balcony guards, and new windows. The exterior cladding is available in a range of colours which will presented in a following presentation.

The completed new look on the ground floor will have new and more welcoming entrance, new provisions for Wheeltrans and bike locking. Additionally new canopies will provide added shelter from rain, snow and sun.

Adam Pelissero of the TCH summed up the 220 Oak Street Renewal in this way, “At the end of the day, everyone is getting a new building.”

The next meeting will be held in the fall of 2021 to discuss the final design details. Tenants are encouraged to stay engaged through a dropbox in the lobby to submit their feedback and questions. Stay tuned for more in the upcoming months.

 

Watch the full video on RPTV
https://youtu.be/1DS5uZePOCE



Written by
Dimitrije Martinovic

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Park Portrayed in Film and Television

By -
Image
Toronto has a rich history of being a go-to shooting location for many television and film production companies. Some notable films shot here over the years include Good Will Hunting (1997), Billy Madison (1998), American Psycho (2000), and X-Men (2000). Regent Park has also had its share of showcases in film. This article aims to review the general content of movie dramas and televisions shows shot in Regent and explore their relationship to the community. Clement Virgo is a director, producer, and writer from Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was born in 1966 and moved to the Regent Park area in Toronto in 1977. During this time Regent Park was generally populated by low-income families and as a hot spot for drugs. Virgo is most recently known for his roles in Greenleaf (2016-2018), The Book of Negroes (2015), and The Wire (2002) as Director and/or Producer. His first feature-length film, however, was Rude (1995), which was filmed almost entirely in the old Regent Park. “The film told
Read more

Meet Your Neighbourhood Police Officers – PC Mircea Biga and PC Farzad Ghotbi

By -
Image
Community-based policing is a proactive law enforcement strategy that focuses on building ties and working closely with a community’s members to create partnerships and plans for preventing and reducing crime. While community policing will look differently depending on the community it serves, a central feature is that the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis. Currently there are 17 community-based police programs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but what most people don’t know is that Toronto’s community policing started in Regent Park in May of 2017. We know this because the original officers involved in setting up the Regent Park community policing program continue to work here today. The officers are PC Mircea Biga, PC Farzad Ghotbi, and PC Edward Parks; the newest officer assigned to the Regent Park community is PC Nigel Thomas (who is replacing PC Melissa Huntley while she is on maternity leave). Symptomatic of the increasing diversity of
Read more

What Social Inclusion Means to Me

By -
I had moved into Regent Park only a few days before I saw the pink, fuchsia, strawberry, indigo, yellow, green, neck streamers and sparkling robes worn by children, parents, aunts, uncles, and elders as they marched passed my kitchen door. Soon, the nearby Athletic Grounds was blazing with colour. Although it was the first time I heard them, the intonations on the microphone were recognizable, even to me, as prayers. It was Eid, the concluding celebration after Ramadan. It was a beautiful sight. I am a White Jewish senior and I hunted for a stairless condo for years before I chose to live in Regent Park and then only because a relative did business with the new seniors’ building there. “Regent Park?” a friend exclaimed. “You are going to have ethnic problems.”  “Not I.  I come from a long line of fiery leftie activists.” I replied. Stage four and five of revitalizing this post-war subsidized development into a multi-income community was just beginning and I jumped in w
Read more