(Otter Loop photograph by Richard Leitch)
Janice Etter, Chair of the Etobicoke-York Community Preservation Panel, offers this update on the drive to preserve the transit shelter at Otter Loop. It’s a long post with a lot of background, which we show after the link, but Janice finishes it off with this challenge to transit fans:
It’s now up to TTC buffs to make sure that Councillor Karen Stintz and funder hear from them, urging that the shelter be incorporated into the park design as a way of commemorating a significant relic of TTC history.
To take up that challenge, I encourage you all to write a polite e-mail to Councillor Karen Stintz letting her know what you think should be done with the site, and whether this little piece of architectural history should be preserved. Now, here’s Janice:
Adam Sobolak’s message was shared with members of the Toronto Preservation Board prior to the April 6th Board meeting. As a result, the North York Community Preservation Panel passed a motion at its meeting earlier in the week, which Chair Edith Geduld presented to the Board:
That the Otter Loop transit shelter, on Avenue Road at Otter Crescent, south of Lawrence Avenue East (across from Havergal College) be repaired/restored/preserved and protected on site and incorporated into the proposed Heart Park.
There was support from the board, but the local councillor, Karen Stintz, was strongly opposed. She appeared before the Board and submitted the following letter:
The motion passed at the North York Community Preservation Panel incorrectly assumes that the bus shelter can be repaired/restored/preserved and protected and incorporated into the proposed heart park initiative for 1400 Avenue Road. The North York Preservation Panel did not consult with the local ward councillor, the Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission or the individual who has committed $25,000 for the creation of the “heart park.†If the North York Community Preservation Panel had deferred consideration of the motion until such consultation was complete, it would have been clear that preserving the shelter would obstruct the development of the park on this location.
