Good Afternoon BIA Members,
You may have noticed that the City has started construction on the Green P lot located on the north/east corner of Danforth and Playter. This work marks the start of the Playter Estates Gateway project. This project has been in the works for a number of years and most recently has been delayed due to covid. However, starting this week the project is back on track.
The Playter Estates Residents Association (PARA) approached the City and our BIA with a request to create a "gateway" to mark the entrance to their historic neighbourhood. PLEASE NOTE: the parking lot is NOT being removed but rather enhanced.
PARA has updated all of their neighbourhood street signs to indicate that you are in Playter Estates - photo attached. This dovetails with the creation of this new gateway project. Also attached please find the plans for what is being done to recognize Playter Estates at the Green P location.
The City estimates that this work should be completed by the end of June at which time the lot will once again be available for parking.
Our section of Danforth will be a bit busy for the next several weeks between this construction and the set-up for CafeTO 2022. As a reminder, to set up CafeTO we will be shifting the bike and parking lanes to make room for the curb lane patios. We are aiming to have CafeTO set up in time for the May long weekend.
For those who aren't familiar with the history of the Playter Estates, here's a brief backgrounder:
Playter Estates is a neighbourhood in the east, central part of Toronto bounded by Jackman Avenue to the east, Broadview Avenue to the west, Danforth Avenue in the south, and Fulton Avenue in the north.
The Playter Estates neighbourhood was built on land originally owned by the Playter family who were important pioneers in the settlement of York (which eventually became the City of Toronto). Captain George Playter, patriarch of the family, was an United Empire Loyalist who emigrated to Canada from Pennsylvania in the 1790s. Captain Playter and his sons were each given original land grants that extended on both sides of the Don River, from present day Yonge Street along Bloor Street, across the Don Valley and over to approximately Pape Avenue. Two streets here still bear the Playter name – Playter Boulevard and Playter Crescent – while other streets within Playter Estates also relate to Playter family history. For example, Ellerbeck Avenue was named after a Playter son married Sarah Ellerbeck. A family homestead, a two-storey farmhouse, built in the late 1870s and located at 28 Playter Crescent, has been heavily renovated, but still exists in its original, prominent location. Until quite recently, descendants of the Playter family continued to reside within Playter Estates.
