Changing storefronts and escalating rents have become standard fare in many Toronto neighbourhoods, but when an organization the size and with the resources of Greenpeace Canada is forced out, it’s indicative of just how much harder gentrification has made it to hold onto progressive spaces in the city.
The environmental group closed up its warehouse on the appropriately named Busy Street earlier this month. The space had been ground zero for the group’s activist training as well as home to the banners and props and trouble-making gear, including its climbing kits and inflatable Zodiac boat, used for its actions.
“We obviously need to be responsible how we’re using the resources that our supporters give us, and with rent increases its just not possible for the organization to continue to be there,” says Greenpeace’s mobilization campaigner Earyn Wheatley.
While most of the iconic gear will be relocated to a Greenpeace space in Sutton, Quebec, the environmental organization is working on converting part of its offices on Cecil into a warehouse-like space to accommodate the rest of its equipment. To create the new space Greenpeace has knocked down a wall on the first floor.
Wheatley says that while it won’t be as spacious, the new set-up “is going to be able to do a lot of the things that the warehouse was doing.”
Laura Severinac, a former Greenpeace organizer who now works for activist training group Tools for Change, is saddened by the loss of 10 Busy Street, especially its history as a movement-building space.
Severinac says “the warehouse had a creative energy to it, and a kitchen so you could cook together and that’s where real conversations start in these kinds of spaces.”
Greenpeace leased 10 Busy Street from Busy Street Holding Inc. in 2007, paying $3,000 per month (plus utilities). At the time, Greenpeace occupied the entire 4,250 square-foot space.
By the end of its tenancy, however, the building had been divided by the landlord and the organization’s space cut down to a little over 3,000 square feet. One-month’s rent has climbed to $7,126 (plus utilities). The owners of 10 Busy Street declined a request for comment for this story.
The Queen Street East strip steps from 10 Busy Street has seen a significant make-over in recent years, including the loss of neighbourhood stalwart Jim’s Restaurant, which closed in July after more than 50 years of grilling eggs and home fries.
Jason Schultz, a salesperson from Royal LePage, estimates that property values in Leslieville have doubled over the last eight years. Non-residential spaces in the neighbourhood have changed significantly.
“You saw a lot of pawn shops, laundromats, thrift stores, and those sorts of businesses. Now those businesses have moved out because the people who have used those facilities are no longer here,” says Schultz.
Owen Lewis rented an apartment on Carlaw near the Greenpeace warehouse eight years ago. Back then, his building was filled with artists, interesting businesses as well as a few sketchy elements. Having moved back to the neighbourhood this year as a co-owner of a condo with his wife, he says Leslieville feels like a whole new place.
“The nine-to-five crowd have moved in. Ironically, that’s what myself and my wife are now.”
Vanessa Butterworth managed the Greenpeace warehouse in 2009. She says that she enacted an open-door policy so other groups and activists could use the space.
Butterworth is optimistic that a new hub will emerge to support Toronto’s environmental activists. It’s not exactly clear how to keep movement spaces open and affordable, though she is certain organizers will be strategic and dig deep to find a way. “The downside of that, and I don’t think it’s anything new for community organizers, is that we’re going to have to take a piece of our lives to make that work.”
Steve Cornwell is a Toronto-based writer who has previously worked for Greenpeace Canada.
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