Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Bathurst Manor
is a neighbourhood of
Toronto
,
Ontario
, Canada, located in northern Toronto in the former suburb of
North York
. It sits on a
plateau
bounded on the north by
Finch Avenue West
, on the west by
Dufferin Street
, on the east by the
Don River
(west branch), and on the south by
Sheppard Avenue West
. The area is also regarded as part of the Downsview postal area as designated by
Canada Post
. It is part of the former city of North York, which merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new "
City of Toronto
" in 1998. It is part of the federal and provincial electoral district
York Centre
, and Toronto electoral
ward 10
: York Centre (East). In 2006, it had a population of 14,615.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Bathurst Manor is one of several Jewish-populated neighbourhoods on
Bathurst Street
. It is a suburban community built between 1954 and the early 1960s. While most of the population was originally Jewish, and several
synagogue
congregations are located in the neighbourhood, there are also significant Italian, Russian and Filipino populations.
[
citation needed
]
In 1996, the
Toronto Transit Commission
extended
subway
service to the area with the opening of the
Sheppard West station
, at
Allen Road
and Sheppard Avenue, allowing a thirty-minute train ride to
Union Station
at the southern cusp of downtown Toronto.
Demographics
[
edit
]
The
community
is home to the Canadian headquarters of
B'nai Brith
at 15 Hove St, the
Bathurst Jewish Community Centre
(BJCC), the Lipa Green Building at 4588 Bathurst St is for Jewish Community Services. Bathurst Manor's Top ten
ethnic
and
cultural
groups (by
ancestry
) in 2016:
[2]
The percentage of population below the
poverty line
dropped from 22% (in 1996) to 18% (in 2001).
[1]
Education
[
edit
]
The
Toronto District School Board
(TDSB) is an English
first language
public
secular
school board
that operates several schools in the neighbourhood.:
- Cedar Grove Public School
opened in 1958 as a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school before the construction of Dufferin Heights. This school was renamed to
Charles H. Best West Elementary School
in 1978 operating from Kindergarten to Grade 5, before being separated in 2002 as a K-4 school and renamed to
Wilmington Elementary School
in 2004.
- Charles H. Best Junior Middle School
was built in 1960 as
Dufferin Heights Junior High School
operating Grades 7 to 9. In 1978, this school became
Charles H. Best East Middle School
operating from Grades 6 to 8, before becoming its own school in 2002 as a grades 5-8 school and renamed to
Charles H. Best Middle School
in 2004 and again in 2018.
- Wilmington Public School
is located on 200 Wilmington Avenue and opened in 1954. This school was closed in 1978 and amalgamated with Cedar Grove and Dufferin Grove to form Charles H. Best.
Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto
, a private Jewish high school, moved to this building in 1979. The Wilmington name was reused for the old Cedar Grove building in 2004.
- William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute
Three other public school boards also provide schooling to applicable students in Bathurst Manor, the
Conseil scolaire Viamonde
(CSV),
Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir
(CSCM), and the
Toronto Catholic District School Board
(TCDSB). CSV is a French
first language
secular school board, whereas CSCM and TCDSB are public
separate school
boards, the former being a French first language school board, the latter being an English first language school board. Neither CSCM, CSV, and TCDSB operates a school in Bathurst Manor, with their students attending schools situated in other neighbourhoods in Toronto.
The public
post-secondary institution
, the
University of Toronto
, also operates the
Institute for Aerospace Studies
in the northern portions of the neighbourhood.
Governance
[
edit
]
Bathurst Manor is part of the Federal and Provincial riding of York Centre, represented by M.P.
Ya'ara Saks
and M.P.P.
Michael Kerzner
, the former being a member of the
Liberal Party of Canada
and the latter being a member of the
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
. Municipally, the constituency is also known as Ward 6, which is represented by Councillor
James Pasternak
.
Bathurst Manor is located within 32
Division
of the
Toronto Police Service
and is most often serviced by
Station
143 of the
Toronto Fire Services
.
Recreation
[
edit
]
Several municipal parks are located in the Bathurst Manor including Garthdale Park, G. Ross Lord Park, Irving W. Chapley Park, and Maxwell Park, and the West Don Parklands. Municipal parks in Toronto are managed by the
Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division
. Several municipal parks in the neighbourhood are situated near the
Don Valley
, which forms a part of the
Toronto ravine system
.
The Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division also manages the Irving W. Chapley Community Centre (named after a local alderman) is located in Irving W. Chapley Park. This
community centre
features a tot's play area, meeting rooms and an outdoor pool and water play area. In addition to Irving W. Chaley Community Centre, the neighbourhood is also home to the
Prosserman Jewish Community Centre
(PJCC). PJCC is a multi purpose facility with cardiovascular conditioning equipment, indoor and outdoor pools, indoor and outdoor track, and tennis and basketball courts. This centre is also the home of the Leah Posluns Theatre and formerly the
Koffler Gallery
when the site was known as the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre.
Skiing was popular during the 1950s at a ski hill located adjacent to what is now Blue Forest Drive. In the summer of 1956, the valley below the ski hill was the site of Bathurst Manor Day Camp, later Forest Valley Day Camp, and now a part of the Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre. At its peak, it was the largest privately owned summer day camp in Canada, with over 900 campers, and operated through 1993. In 1973 the grade ten students from Downsview Secondary School built a suspension bridge across the ravine as part of their workshop experience. The bridge was dismantled some years later when it was considered an insurance liability. Beginning in 1998, Camp NAORCA summer camp operated by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division moved here from its previous location at
Seneca College, King Campus
, and the
Toronto District School Board
uses this space during the school year to educate 21,000 students per year.
Arts
[
edit
]
Several works from the collection of the
Koffler Centre of the Arts
was housed at the BJCC's Koffler Gallery but now moved to their new home downtown at Artscape Youngplace. The centre also provided visual arts studios, music and dance schools, and the Leah Posluns Theatre which was then a 444-seat facility offering opera, theatre, dance, music and other cultural events. The Jewish Book Fair is held at the Centre annually.
Much of
David Bezmozgis's
2004 short story collection
Natasha and Other Stories
takes place in the general vicinity of the Bathurst Manor in the late 1980s. In one story, "Roman Berman - Massage Therapist", the title character takes an office in the medical building at Bathurst Manor Plaza, which is still standing and in use. Bezmozgis's narrator refers to the plaza as "Sunnybrook Plaza", after its anchor store at the time. Author
Stuart Ross
, who grew up in Bathurst Manor, set most of his 2011 novel,
Snowball, Dragonfly, Jew
(ECW Press), in Bathurst Manor. The book centres on the fictional assassination of a neo-Nazi in Bathurst Manor Plaza. References are made to many streets in Bathurst Manor, as well as stores in the plaza.
Retail
[
edit
]
The major
strip mall
, Sheppard Plaza, is located at the intersection of Sheppard Avenue and Bathurst Street.
There was also a smaller Bathurst Manor Plaza shopping centre at the intersection of Wilmington and Overbrook.
Notable people
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Places adjacent to Bathurst Manor
|
---|
|