What to know
- Toronto City Councillor Dianne Saxe, who represents University—Rosedale, has filed a motion for the Heritage Planning department to see if Sneaky Dee’s can be designated a heritage site.
- She is working with Save Sneaky Dee’s, an activist group who helped halt Goldberg Group’s development plans three weeks ago, on collecting stories from community members who have frequented the music venue.
- If Saxe’s motion passes, Sneaky Dee’s could be on its way to becoming a heritage site, which will set a precedent for beloved music and cultural venues across Toronto and Ontario.
Could Sneaky Dee’s be designated a heritage site, protecting it from becoming a casualty in future development projects on the corner of College and Bathurst Streets?
Toronto City Councillor Dianne Saxe believes there could be a chance.
After discovering three weeks ago that Goldberg Group — the development company that tried demolishing Sneaky Dee’s — didn’t own three of the properties in the application, including the Royal Bank of Canada branch next door to the music venue, the application was dropped.
But just because one company’s plans fell through doesn’t mean Sneaky Dee’s is safe from future development plans.
Councillor Saxe’s motion
This is what prompted Saxe, who represents University—Rosedale, to file a motion asking the city’s Heritage Planning department to take another look at whether Sneaky Dee’s can be designated a heritage site.
“The application collapsed, which is great news, but it’s not a permanent protection. Any property owner along College Street can tear down low rise buildings and put up a larger building,” Saxe explains.
While a heritage designation is not a complete protection, she says it does provide some protection to certain properties. Development companies will have to jump through more hoops and spend more money to alter or knock down a heritage site.
Saxe has been working with the Save Sneaky Dee’s organizers to come up with ideas to give the venue more protection from being torn down. She says one of the activist group’s ideas was “Could we designate Sneaky Dee’s?”
When it comes to getting the motion passed, Saxe says she expects her colleagues to support her “because all it does is tell the heritage staff to look again — and they’re willing to look again.”
If Sneaky Dee’s does get designated a heritage site, the councillor says it will set a precedent for communities around the city and across Ontario to put forward designations for their own culture institutions.
“We’ve been so short of tools for so long. So this would be a very important precedent, not just in Toronto, but all across Ontario, and to some extent for the rest of the country,” Saxe elaborates.
“It would be a really important precedent. And that’s why it matters so much to have the best possible collection of evidence.”
Add your heritage story
On the Save Sneaky Dee’s website, there is currently a Google Form that lets Torontonians who have frequented the venue submit their stories — whether that’s eating nachos in the restaurant downstairs, seeing an up-and-coming band upstairs, or attending a dance party late into the night.
“Did you frequent Sneaky Dee’s in the 90s? Were you involved with their booming live music scene? Were you involved with notable artists that played the stage before hitting it big? Were you there during the anti-nazi “Battle of Sneaky Dee’s”? We want to hear it all. The more information and stories we collect about the heritage of Sneaky Dee’s the better,” the form on the Sneaky Dee’s website reads.
The Heritage Planning Department is also completely on board with Saxe’s efforts. She says the staff have tried over and over again to help protect important Toronto venues from being erased, without much success.
“The heritage staff have explained to me, they would love to have some tools to help protect these kinds of venues. They would love to try again being offered the kind of support that the Save Sneaky Dee’s activists are able to muster here,” she explains.
If this all works out and Sneaky Dees gains heritage site protection, Saxe says George Diamantouros, the venue’s general manager, should name a plate of nachos after her.
“One of my followers on LinkedIn suggested that George should name a plate of nachos after me, and I think that would be a great idea. I’d love them to do it.”
