Today in History: 1993

April 3, 1993 was a momentous day in Birch Cliff as a ground breaking ceremony was held to mark the beginning of construction on the Birchmount Community Centre, a 5,791 sq. metre facility that is today a jewel in the heart of the neighbourhood.

The ground-breaking was described as “a historic moment” in the Bluffs Monitor newspaper by editor Lee Graves, reflecting the fact that Birch Cliff residents fought for more than a decade to get a community centre.

“….it has taken some 14 years and much agitation, mostly by Birch Cliff residents to get the City moving on bringing its many facilities up to today’s standards and to provide a much needed recreational/meeting place for the community,” Graves wrote.

The gleaming new Birchmount Community Centre replaced a grassroots initiative called the Phyllis Griffiths Neighbourhood Centre that operated out of church basements and empty storefronts on Kingston Road.

Phyllis Griffiths was a long time Birch Cliff resident and legendary journalist who broke the gender barrier at the Toronto Telegram in the 1940s.

The lobbying for a new facility, led by former Scarborough councillor Harvey Barron and the Birch Cliff Community Association, was intense and eventually successful.

“The bricks and mortar of the Birchmount Centre are a testament to the tenacity and vision of the Birch Cliff community,” said former City Councillor Brian Ashton.

“In the beginning, Scarborough Councillor Harvey Barron worked tirelessly with MPP Anne Swarbrick to provide a new home for the Phyllis Griffiths Centre. Those were the days when the need for community sensitive social services was on the rise. Building a community hub, combining recreational, social and cultural activity, put Birch Cliff on the map as a trendsetter,” Ashton said.

The Birchmount Community Centre is owned by the City of Toronto and provides space to non-profit organizations such as the Scarborough Central Lions Club, which contributed $100,000 to the construction of the centre, as well as the Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre.

The range of services offered at the centre is astonishing: recreational swimming and swimming lessons, fitness classes for all ages and abilities, Boys and Girls Club, Family Resource Centre, nursery school, Food Share program, video and book lending library, art classes, newcomer services, Youth Network, karate, dance classes, community bike hub (new this year), disability services…and more.

“Almost everyone who has grown up or lived in Birch Cliff has had a connection to the Community Centre,” said Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford.  “From infants to seniors, and everyone in between, there has been a program to suit. It’s a place where so many friendships have been forged. With the addition of a new gymnasium and programming at the Centre, Birch Cliff continues to be one of the best places to live in the city.”

Community has come a long way

To get an idea of just how much recreational and community services in Birch Cliff have changed over the years, check out the photo below from 1954.

It’s an aerial looking northeast from Kingston Rd. and Birchmount Ave. taken before the there was a community centre, before Birchmount Collegiate was built and before the baseball diamonds and track.

An aerial photograph of Kingston Rd. and Birchmount Ave. looking northeast, taken in July 1954. Copyright: R. Schofield collection, Scarborough Archives.

Prior to the construction of the community centre there was an outdoor pool on the land (a roof was added later) that was built, paid for and run by the Scarborough Lions Club.

Longtime residents of Birch Cliff recall that in the 1950s and 60s just about every kid in the neighbourhood took swimming lessons there and many have fond memories even though the pool wasn’t heated.

“8 a.m. in the outdoor pool, which was not heated, was almost torture,” said Lynn Duncan in a post on Facebook.  “Spent the afternoons for recreational swimming. The pool was an L shape with the diving board at the end of the short side into 10 feet of water, The rest of the pool went from 3 foot at shallow end (east end) to 8 feet at the deep end (west end). Beside the diving area was a grassy area for sunning and a snack shop where I bought cheese popcorn for a nickel a bag. Such great memories of summers at that pool with the neighbourhood kids.

Birchmount outdoor pool, which was built and paid for by the Scarborough Lions, as was the arena. Courtesy Scarborough Archives.

 “Funny to think back then, you had to sew the season pass to your bathing suit,” said Cathy Everall Adams on Facebook.  “I would spend all day there, then come home, throw the suit on the clothes line to dry a bit so we could go back after dinner. Summer at the pool, winters skating at the arena. Best of times with best of friends.”

Today the Birchmount Community Centre has one of the best indoor pools in Toronto complete with a large water slide, children’s shallow area with a children’s slide and  spraying elephant, a warm conversation pool with jets and a sauna.

Birchmount Community Centre swimming pool.

The pool was official opened in October 1996 and once again the Bluffs Monitor was on hand to report on the occasion.

An article written at the time by editor Lee Graves states that Scarborough Mayor Frank Faubert praised Councillor Harvey Barron for his constant lobbying for improvements to the Birchmount complex.

In turn, Councillor Barron thanked the Lions Club of Scarborough “without whom there would never have been a pool at all.”

Bluffs Monitor Article on opening of Birchmount Pool

This is article is part of a “Today in History” series commemorating the upcoming 100th anniversary celebration of Birch Cliff Public School, which is taking place on Sept. 23/24, 2016.  To see other articles click here: 1927, 1929, 1935, 1935, 1951.