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What's Happening On Roncesvalles
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Tłusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday) Comes To Roncesvalles
| February 11, 2010 |
An annual Polish tradition, Fat Thursday is the last hurrah before the fasting perios of Lent. Traditionally, celebrants feast on Fat Thursday, particularly on the popular (and really tasty!) Polish “donut” called pączki (pronounced POONCH-kee) and faworki (”angel wing” pastry.)
What a better day to try out something tasty! Tłusty Czwartek is big on Roncesvalles. You can expect brisk business at our Polish delis and bakeries, in particular the ever-popular bakery and café, Granowska’s (175 Roncesvalles at Fern.)
Another Story Raises Community Funds
We would like to congratulate Another Story Bookstore for their holiday fundraising efforts. Their annual holiday gift-wrapping campaign raises funds for worthy charities. This year they raised $1204 for PARC (Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre), an important community centre serving Parkdale and Roncesvalles Village.
This is yet another example of the terrific community spirit shown by businesses up and down Roncesvalles. When you support business in Roncesvalles Village, business gives back to your community!
Victoria Flower Shop Moves On…
Alicia, who operated Victoria Flower Shop at 420 Roncesvalles Avenue for 18 years, closed her shop last Friday. She has been thinking about retiring from the flower business for quite some time, and recently sold her property and tells me that she’s looking forward to a lengthy holiday. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
I had the pleasure of speaking with the new owner of 420 Roncesvalles, who will be opening up a bridal fashion shop in February.
Disappearing Trees At Roncesvalles and Fermanagh
Last week we noticed that two large trees at 150 Fermanagh Avenue (at Roncesvalles) had been cut down. The BIA asked what happened to those trees, and here is what we learned from the City:
The trees were on private property, and the owner requested permission from the city to remove the trees. One was apparently unhealthy, and the other had a large damaged branch and was beginning to damage the building foundation.
The Urban Forestry department gave permission to the owner to remove the two trees on the condition that four new trees would be planted on the property to replace them.
The BIA hopes to see those new trees planted in the spring.
Silver Spoon To Close January 22
From the recent article in Toronto Life:
The Roncesvalles institution Silver Spoon is closing in the next two weeks, but chef and owner Rocco Agostino says the never-ending construction on the neighbourhood’s main drag isn’t the reason why he’s packing up. “It’s bittersweet. I’m not going to lie that I didn’t get emotional,” says Agostino, who also heads the kitchen at Pizzeria Libretto. “But it’s not necessarily horrible. Ten years is a good run. I want to go back to my roots, which are in Italian food.”
Even though he says the construction has led to a decline in business, he says he’s been thinking about other ventures for a while now. Aside from Libretto, he’s focusing on his next restaurant, Enoteca Sociale, which will feature house-made pastas and cheese. He says it’ll be on Dundas, about four blocks west of Ossington, and hopes to be open by spring.
But despite the dug-up roads and roadblocks that have hit Roncesvalles businesses hard in recent weeks, Agostino still loves the neighbourhood he calls home and has considered opening a small café on the strip someday. “I can now spend more time with my son,” he adds. “I consider this a move forward, and I have no regrets.”
Silver Spoon’s last service will be in 10 days, on January 22.
Can lessons from the St. Clair streetcar project be applied here?
The TTC has just published “Getting it Right: Lessons from the St. Clair Streetcar for the Implementation of Transit City,” written by Les Kelman and Richard Soberman. The report details the missteps that led to delays and cost overruns with the St. Clair transit project. The Globe and Mail sums up the report’s conclusions nicely: “The price tag of the new St. Clair streetcar line nearly doubled because nobody was in charge as the project’s scope ballooned, public consultation ran amok and more than 20 small contractors tripped over each other.” The authors also blamed provincial intervention, including the granting of a judicial review of the project, as a main cause for the delays.
Transit guru Steve Munro has posted his response to the TTC report. He questions the report’s emphasis on “project creep” and obstinate community members, and places more blame for the delays on good old-fashioned bureaucracy, mismanagement and a “silo mentality” within City departments and agencies. He also says that the TTC resisted public input not only from steadfast opponents, but from project supporters as well, and must share considerable blame for the poor public consultations.
The report mentions that a Project Management Plan is being prepared, and a single Transit City office is being established within the TTC, which should improve how such projects are managed in the future. Specifically, the report stresses the importance of:
• ensuring construction contract conditions that facilitate staging and traffic management plans,
• including both incentives and disincentives related to meeting construction milestones,
• finalizing methods of staging construction through workshops with consultants, contractors, and the City, as well as affected utilities, and
• promoting pro-active liaison with residents, businesses and BIAs early in the final design and construction stages.
The Roncesvalles Village BIA has requested that such completion incentives, along with other mitigation efforts, be written into the contract for phase two of the Roncesvalles reconstruction (set to begin probably in June).
While the Roncesvalles reconstruction is tiny compared to the scope of the Transit City LRT projects, the BIA hopes that the City and TTC will examine the lessons of the St. Clair project (along with the lessons learned so far during the Roncesvalles reconstruction), and apply them here.
The BIA is gathering input from merchants and the community about phase one of the Roncesvalles reconstruction, and is forwarding recommendations to City staff. If you have any observations or recommendations on how to mitigate disruption during phase two, please contact the BIA at , Councillor Gord Perks at , or post below.
Victoria Flower Shop Moves On…
Alicia, who operated Victoria Flower Shop at 420 Roncesvalles Avenue for 18 years, closed her shop last Friday. She has been thinking about retiring from the flower business for quite some time, and recently sold her property and tells me that she’s looking forward to a lengthy holiday. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
I had the pleasure of speaking with the new owner of 420 Roncesvalles, who will be opening up a bridal fashion shop in February.
How To Get To Roncesvalles (and where to park)
There are lots of ways to get to Roncesvalles, by car, on foot or by transit. For those who are maybe a bit confused by the parking and transit situation, we have created a PDF guide, downloadable by clicking on the image at left.
Please feel free to download this guide and make a point of visiting Roncesvalles Village! Many of our stores have great post-Christmas sales going on right now, so come on by!
Happy Holidays from the Roncesvalles Village BIA
Thanks to everyone who attended our “Pictures With Santa” event at the Revue and all those who packed the theatre for the BIA-sponsored free screening of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” this past Saturday. We had record attendance, and lots and lots of happy kids got their pictures taken with Santa.
Special thanks to Tenzin Dorjee at Impact Photography and everyone at the Revue Cinema for making this a memorable event.
And thanks to everyone who has done their shopping on Roncesvalles even though it’s been a challenge with the construction. The construction is on hold until January, so please visit us during Boxing Week and continue to support your local businesses on Roncesvalles throughout the new year.
All of us in the Roncesvalles Village BIA wish everyone the best for 2010!
How can we best manage disruption in 2010?
Photo: BlogTO
Recently, BlogTO posted an article on how Roncesvalles businesses are struggling during the reconstruction, a reminder of the importance of supporting local businesses during the holiday season. The BIA urges all Roncesvalles residents, please, to brave the occasional dust blast (and chilly breeze), and drop by your local shops, services and restaurants. We need you now more than ever!
The article mentions several business closures, although it is not clear that all these closures were due to the reconstruction. What is certain, however, is that business is down, and the 30 percent drop that Len McAuley from Pollocks reported sounds typical for the street. Is there way of mitigating the disruption during the second phase of construction (to begin in the spring with the streetcar track and sidewalk repairs)?
In addition to urging continued local support for Roncesvalles businesses, the BIA would like to ask community members for their observations of how this first phase of construction has been managed. What can be done better to ensure that the second phase proceeds as smoothly as possible? Good suggestions should be incorporated into the tender document, which the City and TTC will send out shortly.
Here are some sample observations, and a few suggestions:
1) Do more to ensure pedestrian movement: Quite often during the first phase, pedestrians were required to walk a block or more out of their way just to cross the street. This effectively cut off businesses from half their customers. The new contract should state that pedestrian crossings shall be maintained at each block except when this is absolutely impossible. Each hour that a pedestrian crossing was closed made a difference to businesses across the street.
2) Manage the dust: Perhaps even more than parking and car access, dust and noise were main factors keeping customers off the street. The jackhammers only lasted a week or so out front of a business, but the dust remained far longer. This meant that whenever a bus drove by, a huge cloud of dust was stirred up and thrown into people’s faces. Even after the first blast, micro particles would linger in the air, making the street unpleasant for everyone and intolerable for those with allergies.
3) Contain the mess: Right now, there are several blocks along the street that are finished but still closed off due to staging materials. Wherever possible, the City should insist that staging materials be kept on the same block where work is occurring or just one block adjacent. Whenever a block can be opened up, however partially, it should be.
4) Preserve bike parking: whenever bike posts must be removed in order to reconstruct the sidewalk, temporary bike parking should be provided nearby. Car parking may need to be restricted along Roncesvalles, but there is no reason bike parking should be.
5) Accept time-based transfers at all Roncesvalles stops, allowing TTC riders forced to switch vehicles at Queen/King/Roncesvalles to shop a bit before resuming travel without requiring use only at designated transfer locations. A similar program has been in place on St. Clair.
6) Bonuses for speedy completion of work should be included in the construction contract
Are there any other observations/suggestions? Please contact the BIA at , Councillor Gord Perks at , or post below!
The community has always understood that the reconstruction work is long overdue and is absolutely necessary to avoid having streetcars run off their rails. And disruption is inevitable with any reconstruction. But there is always room for improvement in how such things are managed. Let’s make sure the lessons learned during this first phase are incorporated into the second!
Email us: info@
roncesvallesvillage.ca
Thanks to everyone who made the 2009 Roncesvalles Polish Festival the best yet!
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