Geotourism Challenge Finalist: Evergreen Brick Works
Monday, 01 Sep, 2009
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Evergreen Brick Works highlights the value the ravines possess as a natural element defining the city and differentiating Toronto from other cities around the world. The site will be a nature exploratory centre educating and inspiring visitors about the value of nature in cities, and its feasibility, while protecting and raising awareness of the ravines fragile ecosystems. It is the first venture to embody and demonstrate the unique connection between nature and Toronto, aligned with what author and journalist Robert Fulford wrote in Accidental City, “The ravines are to Toronto like what the canals are to Venice, hills are to San Francisco and the Thames River is to London." Evergreen Brick Works will embody the natural beauty and special connection between Toronto and its ravines.
Evergreen Brick Works will provoke new ideas about the relationship between nature, people and cities. By capitalizing on the site’s unique natural and industrial heritage setting and engaging and educating the community about diverse nature-based experiences, people will be able to witness the benefits of nature first-hand, giving them a renewed sense of place and inspiring them to become active participants in shaping a more sustainable future.
In early 2002, Evergreen began to explore a new strategy for furthering its mission, strengthening its programs and building its capacity. The idea was straightforward – a large-scale native plant nursery housed in the abandoned heritage building complex at the Brick Works, which would employ at-risk youth and supply native trees and plant material to support urban greening. Over time, however, the idea grew to encompass the creation of an innovative, mixed-use environmental centre that models new approaches to urban sustainability. In the fall of 2002, Evergreen submitted an unsolicited proposal to the City of Toronto to redevelop the Industrial Pad at the Brick Works. After several months, the City concluded that an application process was required and created a Request for Proposals for the "Adaptive Reuse of the Heritage Structures at the Don Valley Brick Works." In September 2003, Toronto City Council selected Evergreen as the preferred proponent for the Project. Following extensive negotiations, planning and stakeholder consultations, Evergreen concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the City and TRCA in the fall of 2004. The MOU was unanimously approved by the City Council on Oct 1, 2004 and gives Evergreen the option to lease the Industrial Pad for $1 per year for 21 years, once the organization has raised the funds necessary for the adaptive reuse of the buildings. Importantly, the MOU focuses only on the Industrial Pad and the buildings contained therein, with the explicit understanding that the Brick Works Park would remain a public park, managed by the City. Evergreen is transforming Toronto’s Don Valley Brick Works factory buildings from an underused, deteriorating asset to a thriving environmentally based community centre engaging visitors in diverse experiences connected to nature. Located on a unique natural and industrial heritage site, Evergreen Brick Works will be a destination for visitors, families and individuals alike, to enjoy a natural refuge, while sampling a rich offering of programs and services – including gardening workshops, heritage tours, working with clay, an organic food market, a retail nursery, demonstration gardens and leading-edge green design techniques. It will be a unique and creative social enterprise that will model sustainability on all fronts and is striving to be the greenest facility in North America.
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