Masonic Lodge at 35 Church? By Bruce Bell
Russell's Hotel It's often been said that in Toronto, up until a half century ago, in order to move up the ladder in government, business and high society it was essential to be a member of at least two of the following organizations; the Orange Lodge, the Anglican Church and the Masons (being male just went without saying). All you have to do is look at photos of former city councils a few generations ago and see those city fathers resplendent with Orange and Mason regalia to get an idea just how established these groups were in city government. Masons have been in Toronto since the late 1700’s where according to Masonic myth the first meeting was held within the first week of the British arrival on a dock at the bottom of Church Street just below Front Street when Toronto, then called York, had a population of only 200 people. Records show that the first permanent Masonic Lodge stood at 35 Church Street just north of Front Street then the site of Russell’s Hotel c1830 (now the site of Market Square Condos) where the upper floor was especially built for the St. Andrew’s Lodge of Freemasons. I will be running Old Town Toronto tours all winter long every Tues, Weds and Thursday at 10am. Also, I have gift certificates available for that special person in your life who loves history. Contact me for more details bruce.bell2@sympatico.ca or contact me through my website www.brucebelltours.ca Shop Local to Win Cash Prizes! Our local Business Improvement Association (which represents the interests of local businesses in Old Town Toronto and the St. Lawrence neighbourhood) is presenting a program called ShopOldTownTO2win aimed at encouraging (with incentives) our community to shop local and support our businesses during this trying time. The promotion is a special one in that it also builds on the relationship between our businesses and the community. From November 8th through December 20th, anyone who spends a minimum of $25 (including tax) in one of our local businesses can upload the receipt to the contest website (www.ShopOldTownTO2win.com) and enter to win $1000. The BIA will be conducting 6 draws for $1000 – one every week! The winning receipt will be drawn at random on Sunday and the $1000 will be split 50/50 between the owner of the receipt and the business where the receipt is from. So if you ordered take out from one of our restaurants (say Hot House) and your receipt was drawn, then you would get $500 cash and the Hot House would get $500 cash! Our cash sponsor is one of our local bank branches, BMO at King & Church. We wish everyone luck in entering the shopoldtownTO2win contest! King-Parliament Consultations Fall Consultation Materials Now AvailableBetween October 22 and November 3, 2020, City Planning held a series of online consultation events to provide an update and collect feedback on the King-Parliament Secondary Plan Review. Thank you to everyone who participated in our four sessions: Thursday, October 22 - Virtual Open House (Project Overview) Monday, October 26 - Queen Street East and Corktown Areas Thursday, October 29 - Heritage, Parks and Public Realm Tuesday, November 3 - Jarvis Parliament Area Planning staff reported on our work in progress to refine the proposed Secondary Plan policies and update the zoning by-law for the area, took comments and answered questions. If you were not able to join our live events, meeting materials will be posted at: www.toronto.ca/king-parliament. There you can also access a copy of the current revised Secondary Plan, red-lined to show revisions from the October 2019 draft. Meeting recordings are available upon request. We invite you to review the materials and submit any comments you may have by November 30, 2020. Meeting this deadline allows us to continue moving forward with our work, consider the feedback and bring a recommended Secondary Plan and Area-Specific Zoning By-law Amendment to Council for consideration early next year. If you would like to provide input to the Planning team, or if you have any questions about the study, please get in touch! By Email - kingparliament@toronto.ca By Phone - Call Melanie Melnyk at (416) 392-4524
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