Exciting Announcement: New Book about the Junction Renaissance Is Coming

Henry Calderon at WTJHS Meeting
Originally uploaded by IT Ceremony.

How the Junction Got Resurrected
Revitalization Period 1998-2004 & Beyond
By Henry Calderon

The Story to Be Told...

It was in the fall of 1998 when it all began to unfold. The story of 3 women who after spending an afternoon at Wasaga Beach a year earlier put in paper how this could happen and who will do it! “Resurrect the Junction”…"Revitalize the Junction”...“Take the Junction from despair and lost of Hope”, it was their real challenges.

Santa Cuda, the owner of the Flamingo Hall, Piera Pugliese, the owner of Vesuvio’s Pizzeria and Maureen Lynette, the owner of Lynette Funeral Homes. A wedding planner, a pizza maker and a funeral arranger. To me it was an interesting combination. First, you get marry then, you celebrate and then, you die. Three interesting services you will find in the Junction today.

To unfold the resurrection of the Junction, a district in the West End of the City of Toronto, which for almost 100 years was a dry area where no alcoholic beverages could be bought and no restaurants could serve the fine wines of the world. It was a challenge from all perspectives.

The referendum about whether you could go from dry to wet was won by one vote in 1997 during the municipal election but it could not come into effect after a year later to ensure that the consumers and restaurants were ready to accept their responsibilities. It was at this moment in time when I was hired for a 12 month contract after an arduous search and interviews with many well respected candidates as a top consultant in the business of Main Streets Revitalization in the country. A one year contract that grew to six years so, I could experience, talk and write in later years how the Junction got resurrected.

The Players

Key members of the following organizations: David Hastings, chair of the West Toronto Junction Team, Hilary Bell, chair of the Dundas West Residents Association, Piera Pugliesse, chair of the Junction Gardens BIA, Santa Cuda, chair of the Malta Village Business Association, Diana Fancher, member of the West Toronto Junction Historical Society. From the Public Sector: Councillor David Miller and Councillor Chris Korwin Kuczynski, MPP Gerard Kennedy and MP Sarmite Bulte. We must to say that the Junction had a political force that most districts would want to have when destined to deliver their vision.

The Book

Now, I am writing a book with a working title “How the Junction Got Resurrected” where the critical milestones of the revival of the Junction and the whole story of the rebirth of the Main Street will be published.

Henry Calderon
Public Affairs and Urban Revitalization Consultant

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