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Kew Gardens (Toronto)

Harv and Sfn no-target errorsParks in Toronto
Beaches Gazebo Kew Gardens
Beaches Gazebo Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens is a large park in The Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park stretches from Queen Street East to Lake Ontario at Kew Beach. The park began as a private 20.7-acre (8.4 ha) farm owned by Joseph Williams in the 1850s. As more visitors from the city began to visit the lake front he transformed his holdings into a tourist destination. He set up a large park and built several recreation facilities on the site beginning in 1879, naming it after Kew Gardens in London.Williams built a substantial house for himself on the site, which still stands and is home to the park's caretaker. On the lakeshore Williams built facilities for swimming and boating. Inland there were picnic areas, trails, tennis courts and lawn bowling. A substantial clubhouse, as well as guest cottages were also constructed. Described by Williams as "A Place of Innocent Amusements," the park was much more genteel than others in the area with no noisy rides or liquor being served. It soon became a popular destination, easily reached from the city via the Queen streetcar.The park was purchased by the City of Toronto in 1907 for $43,700 and turned into a municipal park. Over the years, the marshland in the south was filled in and the waterfront beach area was redeveloped. Most of the buildings were demolished, as the amusement industry shifted to the much larger Scarboro Beach Amusement Park nearby (located to the east and west of Balmy Beach).Today the park is one of the main public venues in the Beaches neighbourhood. It is home to a number of facilities including tennis courts, a baseball diamond, a wading pool, and in winter, a skating rink. A number of historic buildings survive, including Williams' cottage, the bandstand, and the Leuty Lifeguard Station (c. 1920). In the northeast corner of the park is the historic Beaches branch of the Toronto Public Library. A number of monuments and memorials are also now located in the park, including the Dr. William D. Young Memorial. It is also the main venue for the Beaches International Jazz Festival each summer. In 2012, the Queen Street Visioning study proposed an interface improvement to the north portion of the park and in 2016 a 17 metre aluminum screen was installed in the space, among other features.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Kew Gardens (Toronto) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Kew Gardens (Toronto)
Lee Avenue, Toronto

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Latitude Longitude
N 43.668725 ° E -79.298501 °
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The Gazebo

Lee Avenue
M4L 1J1 Toronto
Ontario, Canada
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Beaches Gazebo Kew Gardens
Beaches Gazebo Kew Gardens
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Beaches International Jazz Festival
Beaches International Jazz Festival

The Beaches International Jazz Festival is a month-long music festival held each year in the lakeside Beaches community of Toronto in July. Originally started in 1989, it is now one of Canada's largest free jazz festivals with nearly 1,000,000 attendees, throughout its month-long span. The Festival takes place across a number of venues; stage concerts are held in several different parks within the area and also along a two kilometre stretch of the Beach mainstreet during StreetFest - Queen Street East. Every year, the Festival brings in internationally acclaimed jazz performers while also showcasing local talent, including "new generation" jazz musicians. The Festival now hires around 1000 artists per annum, including 50 bands for its "StreetFest" event along Queen Street East. The Festival offers concerts at various locations: the Woodbine Park Main Stage, Jimmie Simpson Park Main Stage, Big Band Stage, SING! A capella Stage . The Festival holds a Workshop and Lecture Series which varies each year and is programmed to appeal to both professional musicians and to the general jazz loving public. BIJF garners much community support because of the community events that it supports. These include: a "Jazz-Up Your Windows" Beach BIA - BIJF jointly sponsored contest for local retailers; and multiple fundraising opportunities for local charities such as the "Beaches Jazz Tune-Up Run" on behalf of the Beach Rotary Club, Community Centre 55 and the Michael Garron Hospital. The Festival attracts around one million attendees per Festival season. The BIJF benefits the local economy, injecting over $30 million into the GTA. Although the festival is funded by the province's Ministry of Tourism and Culture, funding is also sourced from community donations. In November 2013, the Government of Canada donated $200,000 as part of the Department of Canadian Heritage funding program.

Dr. William D. Young Memorial
Dr. William D. Young Memorial

The Dr. William D. Young Memorial is a drinking fountain and memorial that was erected on the eastern border of Kew Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in August 1920 by residents of the Beaches neighbourhood.The memorial was dedicated to Dr. William D. Young (1874-1918), a local physician who, in the era before universal health care, had devoted himself to the health and welfare of children of the neighbourhood. Young died after being stricken with influenza while tending to the sick during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. He died almost penniless after his pro bono work with local children.The Italian Renaissance-style memorial was designed by M.D. Klein, and originally contained a statue of a child by Florence Wyle, later replaced by one by Frances Gage. Ivor Lewis designed the medallions of Dr. Young. The words "Service Was His Aim" are inscribed at the top of the memorial. The City of Toronto designated the memorial under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1977. The designation by-law states: The William D. Young Memorial Drinking Fountain, Kew Gardens, 1920 (Architect and Designer Morris D, Klein) is designated on architectural and historic grounds. The elegantly designed fountain in the Italian Renaissance style displays the finest of craftmanship in stone and bronze. Erected in 1920 through public subscription, the Memorial Drinking Fountain symbolizes the philanthropic service of a distinguished doctor in the Beaches district at the turn of the Century.

The Goof
The Goof

The Goof, officially the Garden Gate Restaurant, is a well known eatery in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto. Founded in 1952, it serves Canadian Chinese cuisine as well as diner fare such as breakfast and hamburgers. Its nickname comes from the restaurant's neon sign. The word "good" is vertical on the sign and "food" horizontal, so when at some point in its history the "d" in "good" burnt out, it read "Goo F". It is today near universally referred to as The Goof by media and locals, while the official name remains Garden Gate. After remaining almost unchanged for more than 50 years, the Goof was thoroughly renovated in 2006. The 1950s decor, including the jukeboxes, was removed and a modernist interior, done by local designer Bennett Lo, was put in place. The menu remained unchanged, as did the well known sign outside. Another well known fixture was waiter Hazel Hoeg, who announced her retirement in 2020, having worked at the restaurant since it opened in 1952, a span of 68 years. The restaurant is today owned by Keith Chau, who purchased it in the early 1990s. In 2017 they updated their webspace to include a unique online ordering application. The restaurant has also been a filming location for two movies: Frequency with Dennis Quaid and Angel Eyes with Jennifer Lopez. The song "Pinch Me" by Toronto/Scarborough band Barenaked Ladies makes reference to The Goof with these lines "there's a restaurant down the street/where hungry people like to eat."