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Newsstand: December 18, 2014
Remember that time when a movie by Seth Rogen and James Franco became the target of terrorist threats? Welcome to life in 2014. In the news: Waterfront Toronto defends running over-budget on the Queens Quay revitalization project, the meaning behind the "Super Dave!" sign at Coxwell and Gerard, a fatal fire in Parkdale, and a Toronto-bound plane is diverted to Halifax.
Waterfront Toronto chairman Mark Wilson says that despite being 40 per cent over-budget, the Queens Quay makeover was well managed. On Wednesday, Wilson defended the $35-million overrun of the initial $93 million budget and praised staff for keeping costs down. While Mayor John Tory was critical of Waterfront Toronto last week for not reporting budget numbers in a timely or transparent fashion, Wilson countered that the delay in reporting—which lasted a year—allowed them to negotiate settlements with contractors that equalled $4 million in savings. Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong countered that more contingency funding should have been available, and Waterfront Toronto could have been smarter about spending.
The convenience store located at the southwest corner of Coxwell Avenue and Lower Gerrard Street East has some residents baffled. Is the “Super Dave!” sign that hangs above its entrance an odd tribute to the once-popular comedic stuntman? Landlord Franco Rovazzi says no; it is actually an inside joke or sorts. Apparently the previous owner of the convenience store had been a man named Dave, and since the store had been called Super Save, Rovazzi and his partners took to nicknaming the property Super Dave. When they upgraded the facade for the building, they asked permission from the store’s new owner to add their pet name for the building to the signage, and since then it has become somewhat of a conversation piece for residents. Rovazzi hopes, too, that the revitalized signage is also a symbol of good things to come for the area, where he and his partners have done renovations to encourage new small businesses to set up shop. Already, Kensington Market’s pizzeria Via Mercanti is expanding operations nearby, and Sweetgrass Brewery will be moving into a building just south of Super Dave!, which Rovazzi hopes will help turn the redeveloped corner into a hub for the neighbourhood.
One person is dead following a two-alarm fire in a Parkdale apartment building, which broke out at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening. Three other residents of the highrise building at 245 Dunn Avenue have been taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire, which was contained and put out in under an hour, remains unknown, but the Ontario Fire Marshal has launched an investigation.
Air travel can be treacherous at this time of year due to a mixed bag of uncooperative weather and short tempers. Here is hoping your travel plans turn out better than the Air Canada flight destined for Toronto Wednesday afternoon that had to be diverted to Halifax Stanfield International Airport after a 30-year-old woman allegedly assaulted two flight attendants mid-flight. Flight AC869 from London, England, resumed its trip to Toronto after the suspect had been removed from the flight and arrested by Nova Scotia RCMP.