Here’s the second part of the first Jane’s Walk I did last Saturday.
Walk 1 – Walking the Ravines Part 2
Our final stop on this walk was the Evergreen Brick Works after meandering through the ravines.
Our tour guide gave us a brief history of the site along with some of the currents uses as we stopped at various places on the site.
As it was a Saturday, the farmer’s market was going on as well which I had a chance to look around on my own after the walk was done.
History
The Evergreen Brick Works was formerly the Don Valley Brick Works. It was one of Canada’s prominent brickyards from 1889 to the 1980s. It made, at its peak, more than 43 million bricks a year for distribution across Canada. Two prominent Toronto buildings that used the Don Valley brick were Massey Hall and Old City Hall.
In partnership with the City of Toronto and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and supported by the Province of Ontario, Evergreen (a national charity) helped established the site for public use. It allowed for wildlife and naturalist to restore the wild meadows and plant trees to enhance the natural park area that used to be the quarry. The natural area behind the heritage buildings is known as the Weston Family Quarry Garden. In 2002, the site’s buildings were designated by the City of Toronto under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Current Use
In needing to maintain the natural site and enhance the collection of deteriorating heritage buildings, Evergreen worked to raise money to utilize the buildings to showcase green design and urban sustainability. The charity has also added one new building to the site which is used for office rental space. The site also offers opportunities for event rentals.
Other programs offered by Evergreen are interactive workshops and community festivals. It also offers a range of programmed to learn about ecology, design, technology and the arts in a hands-on, multi-sensory educational experience.
The walk was really interesting as a whole walking through the ravines as well as exploring the Brick Works. I explore the farmer’s market which I though was ok. I was expecting more fruits and vegetables to be available but it might have been too early in the season. I checked out the café and gift store before I headed home. As the summer comes into full swing, I’d definitely visit again to see the farmer’s market and what they have in store.
