Crow’s to take roost in Leslieville New nest solves lack of cultural infrastructure east of the Don

Dennis Hanagan –

An $8.5 million cultural hub for Toronto’s east-enders is about two years away from opening its doors in the Leslieville area.

The 16,000 square foot facility will be part of a 12-storey development now under construction by Streetcar Developments on the northeast corner of Dundas St. E. and Carlaw Ave.

It’ll have space for visual and performing arts, a 225-seat multi-use theatre, a smaller studio seating about 100, a café and space for community uses.

“At present there are no performing arts facility of its kind east of the Don Valley,” Monica Esteves, managing director of Crow’s Theatre, said in an interview. “There’s 1.3 million east-enders and really no cultural infrastructure.”

Crow’s, founded in 1983 and currently based on Queen St. E. in Riverside, will own and operate the hub slated to open in the summer or fall of 2016. For the past three years Crow’s has been running productions at the Berkeley Street Theatre in partnership with Canadian Stage.

The hub’s immediate catchment area will be wards 29, 30, 31 and 32 but its intention is to reach even further east and possibly have satellite spaces offering arts programs.

Planning for the hub began in 2010. Crow’s did a survey to get to know the community better and learn what local artists, residents and businesses wanted to see in a cultural centre. The idea was not for Crow’s to simply parachute in and start dictating what it would do.

“What we saw (with) the lack of cultural infrastructure east of the Don was a great opportunity to move into a neighbourhood and say we’re here and we’re here for you,” said Esteves.

“We’re going to create our program to serve our catchment area and east-enders and build partnerships with existing organizations that don’t have any cultural infrastructure so it becomes a home for them as well.”

The hub could have art fairs, art markets, networking events—maybe even a local yoga business could use some of its space. “We want a dynamic space that has lots of different kinds of activities, not just theatre and not just Crow’s Theatre,” said Esteves.

One thing the survey made clear is people want programming and space to be affordable, said Esteves. Along with that they want physical accessibility, variety and attention to paid to matters of family interests.

According to Esteves the catchment area has the highest percentage of young families in Toronto. “It’s a dominant demographic in this area.”

With the area’s roots going back to the days of film studios there’s also a high percentage of artists. “There’s a great number of artists that were here 20 years ago when it was one of the only affordable places” in terms of rent, said Esteves.

Right now Crow’s is in the midst of a fund-raising capital campaign to raise the $8.5 million. Individuals and companies are showing they want to help, said Esteves.