BY PAUL JUNOR
The Jane-Finch Forgrove-Grassways Community is one of the most well-known in the City of Toronto. For an area that has been highly stigmatized and marginalized, there have been positive success stories that have been highlighted in the media. This community like many in Toronto is undergoing gentrification and there have been many concerns about the implications of these changes on the present residents and what may occur in the future.
Tiffany Ford, CEO, and Strategist of The Ford Global Group Inc. shared with me information about the social housing (TCHC) projects that are currently being demolished and the revitalization of condos that are currently planned. She sent me the link to the website: www.firgroveconnections.com, which states, “After 50 years, the Firgrove-Grassways community as we know it will be demolished. This website keeps the community we love online to be shared, celebrated and memorialized.” In addition, it is, “A work in progress, a future online museum curated by present and former members of the community.”
The website provides important details about the Firgrove-Grassways community. It was built in 1971 by the Ontario Housing Corporation, which was overseen by Metro Housing in Toronto. Subsequently, many described it as the “Connections” due to the fact that it was a direct link to the Grassways building. This community extends to the larger Jane-Finch community, which over the years has been home to many multicultural and multiracial families.
The Firgrove-Grassways community consists of three blocks of 2-story and 4-story town homes with 236 units built in 1971, a twelve-story high-rise building (5 Needle Fairway) with 137 units built in 1975, and 15-unit adjacent two-story. In addition, there is: a community centre, child-care centre, basketball court, playground, and an outdoor pool.
It was in 2016 that the TCHC decided to examine aging buildings that were structurally unfit after conducting a revitalization project. On the basis of health and safety concerns, several of these units were not occupied by tenants and remained empty. Subsequently, on December 8th, 2016, TCHC deemed Dune Grassway and Blue Grassway unsafe. By 2017, after a relocation process was conducted, residents were given the option of moving to alternative units in the city and returning after the revitalization process. Later on, Turf Grassway and Cane Grassway were shuttered and tenants who remained were moved to areas away from the community.
Tiffany has taken it upon herself to single handedly launch this project to ensure that memories of this once vibrant community stay alive. According to the TCHC, when the Firgrove-Grassway Community development is finished in 2023, there will be approximately 600 market units added to this market at about $500,000 per unit.
Details can be seen at the website: myinvestmentbrokers.com with all the perks.
Tiffany informed me that there are over 100 followers of former residents in 3 days at
www.instagram.com/jfconnections. There is a call for former residents to come forward.
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