May 2023

DOORS OPEN

Join us for tours of the TD Centre

Saturday, May 27 & Sunday, May 28 | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Toronto Dominion Centre (66 Wellington Street West)

We're finalizing plans for our in-person return to Doors Open, offering guided tours of the 54th floor of the TD Centre. Considered one of the best Modern buildings in Canada, don't miss this first public and free viewing of the 54th floor since it underwent an extensive refurbishment and restoration in 2020.

NOTE: Tours last 30 minutes. Although registration is not required, capacity is limited! Please arrive early and be prepared to wait in line. The last tour each day will be at 3:30 pm.

What can you expect?

Follow emerging historian Ori Abara on her behind-the-scenes visit and talk with archivists, historians, and experts who share their unique insights on this Mid-Century Modern masterpiece.

Watch now

Black and white aerial view of the Toronto Financial District showing two massive black rectangle high rises starkly contrasted against the many smaller buildings surrounding them.

Why all the fuss?

Learn why the executive floor is a carefully conserved Mid-Century Modern gem, with rare examples of 1960s corporate interiors, and how the building itself transformed the city's skyline and set a new standard for urban development in Toronto.

Read now

Our thanks to program partners:

Two women stand with their backs to the camera as they look at a huge multi-coloured mural containing images of many people and a lion's head. The women on the right holds up a smartphone to take a picture.

EQUITY HERITAGE INITIATIVE

Will you rise to the challenge in Little Jamaica?

Saturday, June 3 | 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Green P Lot 664 (1607 Eglinton Avenue West)

We're issuing a very friendly throw down for the Likkle Jamaica treasure hunt — a free one-day event that will uncover the vibrant history of this Caribbean community.

Bring your smartphone while you explore the neighbourhood and tackle trivia questions for amazing prizes. Taste delicious Jamaican and Caribbean cuisine (limited quantity), listen for clues in the groove of the reggae tunes, and try your hand at black hair care. Pre-registration isn’t required, but may give you a leg up in the competition!

Non-competitive types are also welcome at this community celebration. Ditch the game, meet us at our tent, and enjoy the music and people.

Share your food memories with us

DEADLINE: Saturday, September 30 | 11:59 PM

This Asian Heritage Month, we're pleased to announce a new project featuring the food history and traditions of North York’s East Asian residents by emerging historian Jingshu Yao. North York Recipes for Healing will explore the power of food in culture identity, placemaking, and building community.

Are you a part of the East Asian community in North York? Do you have a favourite restaurant in your neighbourhood? Jingshu wants to hear from you!

Take our survey to help her identify important food locations in the area, and collect memories about cooking and eating. Responses will be featured anonymously in a new digital experience launching this fall. Those who express an interest to contribute further will be contacted for follow-up interviews.

As a small token of thanks, we're offering prizes in a monthly draw to all survey respondents.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Heritage Toronto's Equity Heritage Initiative is made possible by TD Bank and funding from:

TOURS

Connect with each other and with the places that define Toronto

We're excited to preview highlights of our upcoming 2023 Tours season beginning in June — 29 unique experiences ranging from our Indigenous roots to our Black history, from our modern architecture to Chinatown's development, from Toronto's urban development to its entertainment history.

In addition to the paid walks and bus tours, our revitalized program includes free tour experiences at community and special events. These meet-ups will happen at our new tent. We invite you to pass by, say hello and check in for the day’s schedule of snappy walks featuring the local area’s heritage delivered by our emerging historians.

This year, we also deepen our commitment to present new tours that reflect a more inclusive heritage of Toronto and share the diversity of our city. Over 50% of our walks feature stories from equity-deserving and immigrant communities.

NOTE: The first six tours are featured below. As spots are limited and registration is required for paid tours, we suggest you sign up soon!

2023 Tours Presenting Sponsor

A large group of people walk past a portico entrance which is decorated with Greek icon portraits. A sign reads St Irene Chrysovalantou Greek Orthodox Church.

Greektown on the Danforth

Sunday, June 4 | 11:00 AM

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Pape Subway Station (743 Pape Avenue)

Learn about Toronto’s Greek community and its settlement on the Danforth during the postwar years. This walk will explore Greektown, from its foundations in faith and family, to milestone community events, and the evolution of businesses and restaurants, including the creation of Flaming Opa Cheese as a tourist spectacle.

Tour developed and led by the Hellenic Heritage Foundation.

Tour Sponsors

Yonge Street Architecture

Wednesday, June 7 | 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM

FREE

College Park (444 Yonge Street)

Explore the architecture of the neighbourhood that surrounds Yonge Street at our first tent event! From a large university campus, to beautiful churches, and numerous parks, you'll get an up-close look at the area's side streets, laneways, and the spaces between.

Tour Sponsor

Changing Chinatown

Thursday, June 8 | 6:30 PM

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Huron Square (Huron Street and Dundas Street West)

Discover the past and present along Spadina Avenue; the shifting demographics that saw a thriving Jewish community transition to Toronto’s Chinatown; the advocacy that cancelled destructive expressway plans and now guides efforts to preserve the neighborhood’s cultural heritage; and the evolving definition of public space and art that grounds the community and its shops, homes and businesses.

Tour developed with the support of a generous donation by Andrew and Sharon Himel and the Himel Family.

It Takes a Village

Saturday, June 10 | 3:00 PM

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Barbara Hall Park (519 Church Street)

Discover the stories of Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ community — from advocacy fueled by the Bathhouse Raids and the AIDS epidemic, to the belonging and celebration found at the City Park Apartments, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and St. Charles Tavern. Learn about efforts to strengthen the Church-Wellesley Village today and build the community for the future.

Writing Change in the Annex

Sunday, June 11 | 11:00 AM

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

Seaton Park (14 Albany Avenue)

Explore the Annex through the work of women writers who called the neighbourhood home. From Carol Shields to Gwendolyn MacEwen to Kim Montsugu, these authors spinned stories that inspire self-reflection and community action, tackling issues ranging from domestic violence and sexual abuse, to mental health, to poverty.

Rebels On Stage & Off Script

Sunday, June 11 | 3:00 PM

$9.85 FEE ($8.00 ticket + $1.85 Eventbrite transaction fee)

339 Huron Street

Share the spotlight with the characters and locations that helped transform Toronto’s theatre scene from the 1950s to 1980s. Tales include how a show ran amok when Toronto’s morality squad took issue with a play about a pig, and how the Bohemian Embassy hosted Canada’s first and not-so-dignified “happening”.

HERITAGE TORONTO AWARDS

Open call for nominations!

DEADLINE: Friday, June 30 | 11:59 PM

We are excited to announce that the 48th Heritage Toronto Awards will be held on October 30 when we will announce Award recipients in three categories. See the criteria for Book, Public History, and Built Heritage.

Nominations are now being accepted from the public. Help recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements in the field. If you know of an exciting project that showcases Toronto's heritage, nominate it for a Heritage Toronto Award.

NOMINATE NOW

STATE OF HERITAGE

Community engagement needed for any redevelopment of the Ontario Science Centre

We continue to be disappointed with the lack of transparency and meaningful community consultation on the redevelopment of provincial heritage landmarks like Ontario Place and most recently the Ontario Science Centre. Designed by Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama, the Ontario Science Centre is an important public building whose heritage should be protected or redeveloped rather than arbitrarily demolished. To learn more about its architectural significance and value, read statements issued by ACO Toronto and the Toronto Society of Architects.

HERITAGE HAPPENINGS

Raymond Moriyama’s Ontario Science Centre could be demolished under province’s redevelopment plans

The science centre opened at a time when modernist architecture in Toronto was flourishing, coming only a few years after Viljo Revell’s New City Hall and a few years before the opening of Mathers & Haldenby Architects’ Robarts Library. (The Architect's Newspaper)

Ontario Place redevelopment plans shrouded in secrecy. Here’s what we know

The province did confirm hundreds of millions of public funds will be spent preparing the site for development and building an underground parking garage for 2,100 cars. (Global News)

Confusion reigns over Doug Ford’s Science Centre plan that includes conservation authority land

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority says it doesn’t understand why the premier’s plan includes housing on “hazardous” ravine land unfit for new development. (Toronto Star)

GET SOCIAL WITH US

Image Credits

Selfie in front of Riopelle painting, TD Centre, May 26, 2018. Image by Ian Darragh.

Screenshot from the video, Hidden design at TD Centre, Toronto's Mid-Century Modern masterpiece — Doors Open 2022

Toronto-Dominion Centre from the air, circa 1969. Courtesy of TD Bank Group.

Reggae Lane Mural, Eglinton Avenue West, August 8, 2019. Image by Ali Mosleh.

Sunny Supermarket, 115 Ravel Road. Image by Raysonho, Wikipedia

Indigenous Dialogues tour group, Humber Bay Bridge Arch, July 3, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.

Tour participants, St. Irene Chrysovalantou Greek Orthodox Church, July 16, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.

Tour participants, College Park, May 9, 2019. Image by Ali Mosleh.

Tour participants, Huron Street Public Square, July 17, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.

Tour participants, Bathhouse Raids mural, August 6, 2022. Image by Ashley Duffus.

Tour participants, Gwendolyn MacEwan Park, September 17, 2022.

Buddies staff at 12 Alexander Street, 1992. Courtesy of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

Audience at Awards Ceremony, October 17, 2022. Image by Herman Custodio.

Ontario Science Centre, 1969. Image by Reg Innell. Toronto Star/Toronto Public Library