{"id":50740,"date":"2015-01-28T10:51:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T15:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=50740"},"modified":"2015-01-28T10:51:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T15:51:22","slug":"exploring-downtown-centreville-winter-ghost-town-ways-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2015\/01\/28\/exploring-downtown-centreville-winter-ghost-town-ways-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring “downtown” Centreville in the winter: A ghost town in more ways than one"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the peak of it’s population<\/a> in the 1950s, homes, cottages, and mansions lined the entirety of Toronto Island from Ward’s Island in\u00a0the east all the way to Hanlan’s Point in the west.<\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/a>
Toronto Island map at the peak of its population, from Derek Hayes’ Historical Atlas of Toronto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the time, there were also many Island-side amenities to serve its full time residents,\u00a0including a movie theatre, a bowling alley, grocery stores, and dance halls. Most of these services\u00a0were concentrated\u00a0on Manitou Road, then the main drag of Centre Island.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A 1953 parade on Manitou Road, from A Toronto Album 2: More Glimpses of the City That Was<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With its businesses and active street life, Centre Island was a bona fide, full-service small town abutting one of Canada’s largest metropolises.<\/p>\n

When Metro Toronto decided to\u00a0<\/span>convert the Island\u00a0to uninhabited parkland<\/a> in the early 1950s, they began a program of demolishing Island homes starting from Hanlan’s Point and slowly\u00a0moving east.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before homes were demolished, Metro Toronto razed\u00a0Manitou Road, the heart of the Toronto Island community. According to Sally Gibson’s More Than an Island<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>the Island’s services were eliminated to make it easier to convince\u00a0Islanders to give up their homes. How could they live on the Island, especially through\u00a0the winter, without a grocery store?<\/p>\n

With main street extinguished, Metro easily began expropriating houses and demolishing them. As we know, the city\u00a0only got as far as Algonquin Island before they were\u00a0halted by protests<\/a> and a peaceful uprising. \u00a0With their main street demolished\u00a0more than 60 years ago, today’s Island residents continue to rely on city-side\u00a0grocery stores, movie theatres\u00a0and dance-halls.<\/p>\n

In 1967, Main Street Centre Island was replaced by the Versailles-style gardens of the Avenue of the Islands and by Centreville Amusement Park<\/a>\u00a0down the road. Along with its rides and petting zoo, \u00a0the amusement park includes a full size replica of\u00a0Small Town Ontario, complete with a Town Hall, town square and Ontario heritage homes with decorative bargeboards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To add insult to the displacement of most of Toronto Island’s residents, it seems the city\u00a0demolished a living, breathing town and replaced it with a bogus\u00a0version of itself.<\/p>\n

\"Downtown<\/a>
Downtown Centreville replaced Manitou Road, from Chuckman’s Toronto Nostalgia blog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Keep this in mind next time you find yourself at Centreville. It gives new meaning to the idea of a ghost town. A ghost town is usually a place\u00a0that has been abandoned, but has been left largely in tact. Centreville is\u00a0a stranger kind of ghost town, not abandoned, but replaced with a toy copy\u00a0of itself. Centreville is an echo of history distorted\u00a0by historic grand plans and visions of the future. It’s a simulacra of the town it replaced, barely able to speak for itself and\u00a0its history. This feels especially true when it is doubly abandoned in the quiet winter months.<\/p>\n

\"Downtown
Downtown Centreville is a town doubly abandoned when the amusement park closes for the winter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To bring attention to the strange history of Manitou Road and Centre Island, the next edition of the Learnt Wisdom Lecture Series<\/a> is being held in Downtown Centreville this Sunday February 1st at 2pm<\/a>. Join us for an afternoon of story telling as we consider the theme “Reckless Abandon.” Catch\u00a0the 1:10 boat to Ward’s Island and take the half- hour walk through the beauty of the winter Island, all the way to Downtown Centreville.<\/p>\n

\"LWLS_Poster_Web_Small\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the peak of it’s population in the 1950s, homes, cottages, and mansions lined the entirety of Toronto Island from Ward’s Island in\u00a0the east all the way to Hanlan’s Point in the west. 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