So-called “Bloorcourt Village” residents were startled to see the former Concord Avenue Community Gardens south of Bloor suddenly more barren than the average autumn garden last week. The longstanding community garden, maintained under the auspices of the West End Flower Fairy Gardens group, stole off in the dead of night and has been replaced by a considerably unfestive “Pardon Our Dust”-style work sign, evocative less of nature than of Mosaic Netscape web design ca. 1994.
A call to councillor Joe Pantalone’s office was met with hasty reassurances that the new landscaping is part of the neighbourhood’s future and not indeed a gesture towards allowing Long & McQuade to continue their cementy domination of the Concord to Delaware stretch of Bloor West.
“I know that the same team that built the garden has been working closely with our office to embelish it and make it much better,” said an assistant to the councillor, who noted that the original wildflower beds were raised sod built over top of sidewalk-level concrete, rather than dug down past concrete into the soil.
“It looks poor now, rest assured that it will not when it is done. Rest assured that it is something that we love and helped create,” consoled the aide.
We’ll hold him to that.
2 comments
I was wondering about that when I passed by yesterday! I don’t expect them to do door-to-door campaigns and flyer the neighbourhood about it, but the least they could do is put a sign up to inform the neighbourhood that the green space hasn’t been removed permanently, just being improved upon. Lord knows that stretch, as you indicated, can use all the greenery it can get.
There is a proclivity for pavement – never diminish pavement!
It may be too bad the cosmos heads weren’t kept to re-seed