Plaza’s closure raises concerns in Riverdale
Grocery store, other businesses to shut down so province can build Ontario Line’s Gerrard Station
At the Riverdale Shopping Centre in Toronto’s east end there are no signs up, but word is getting out. The busy No Frills that anchors the plaza will be closing on April 20. It’s just the beginning of many changes to come.
It’s to make way for the construction of the new Gerrard Station, one of 15 stops along the Ontario Line, which will go from the Ontario Science Centre to Exhibition Place and is projected to open in 2030 at the earliest.
More than 150 comments were left on a post in the “I am a Leslievillain” neighbourhood Facebook group about the affordable grocery store’s closure — many people expressing surprise, many concerned about where seniors and others on fixed incomes will shop.
“They haven’t taken into consideration the demographics of the aging population around this area, and also the economic status of people living here,” area resident
Sylvia Doobay told the Star recently as she was about to start walking home from the store, wheeled grocery buggy in hand.
“People living on a fixed income are going to be the most affected and who knows when they will actually be done (construction)?”
When asked for an interview about the changes to the plaza, in an email exchange, Metrolinx media relations said one wouldn’t be available as “we are still in very early stages on this work as the contract was only recently awarded.”
Loblaw media relations confirmed the Gerrard/Carlaw store will be closing on April 20, and that the Loblaws at Broadview and Danforth avenues will be rebranded as a No Frills and opening in May.
There are other grocery options relatively nearby, but they are all smaller than the current No Frills and require people to travel farther, which can be challenging for people with mobility concerns.
Beyond the No Frills, what many don’t realize is that the rest of the plaza at Gerrard Street East and Carlaw Avenue will be closing in the months to come, reshaping a corner that features a Mobil Gas Station, Kal Tire, Dollarama and Carpet Mill.
While many of the workers aren’t authorized to speak to media, several say they have heard that their stores will likely be closing by this summer and are waiting for confirmation on the exact dates.
Little Caesars has already closed and moved to Gerrard Square.
“I will miss this plaza. I had a punctured tire yesterday, so I came over here to get it fixed. We had a flood and we needed new carpet. We came to the Carpet Mill,” said Ron Markwell, 82, who’s lived in the area for 35 years.
“I’ve seen all the plans for what they are doing and it makes some sense. There’s supposed to be a park coming in the corner.”
The most visible work by Metrolinx in the east end is the expansion of the transit corridor most visible by the bridges at Dundas Street East and Logan Avenue, as well as Queen Street East and De Grassi Street being expanded for additional subway tracks — but some say it’s the metaphorical bridges the provincial transit agency is failing at building with the community.
“I would blame Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario for the community not really understanding what’s happening at this plaza,” said Shelley Kline, who has been a member of the Lakeshore East Community Advisory Committee since 2018 and president since 2020.
“I’ve been across the table from them for six years now and they’re terrible (with communication).”
Kline says to have access to the meetings about what’s happening at the Gerrard/Carlaw plaza, Metrolinx requires people to sign nondisclosure agreements, which she refused to do.
It’s a practice the transit agency is known for.
Kline knows that people in the neighbourhood aren’t prepared for the construction and congestion in the near future, especially since one of Metrolinx’s massive tunnel boring machines will eventually be launched from here, tunnelling the route for the Ontario Line north, leading to massive amounts of dirt needing to be hauled away by.
At many of these new stations, there are also plans for Transit Oriented Communities adding more density in these busy areas.
There’s a website with renderings for the planned development at Gerrard-Carlaw North, but she has plenty of questions about it.
“I think it’s terrible. This is not the way to plan this integral part of our neighbourhood,” said Kline.
“You know, post the Ontario Line running through here, this Transit Oriented Community will be one of the centres of the neighbourhood and from what I’ve heard, a developer is not really attached to it yet. And we could be getting anything once a developer comes on board. And the community will have very little say. It’s the same across the city at many of the other stations.”