Simcoe Wavedeck to open next week

Just in time for the Luminato finale, we guess, but the Simcoe Wavedeck (across from the Rabba) is set to open next Thursday, the Post reports.

The whimsical wavedeck bridge under construction at Lower Simcoe Street will be open for public use next Thursday, says Adriaan Geuze, the Dutch mastermind behind the city’s gradually improving waterfront.

“They animate your eyes. They make Queen’s Quay literally kiss the water,” he exclaimed today, of the wooden bridges that imitate rolling waves.

Here's a picture of the almost-completed deck, taken from a webcam set up by Waterfront Toronto.



And how it looked in early April when we snapped this shot

Holy Joe! Fire at Queens Quay Loblaws building overnight

We were out for a morning run when we jaunted by the Loblaws on Queens Quay. When we saw outside the front doors of Joe Fresh clothing, a bundle of burnt clothing and the door open. A window was broken and the smell of, well, burning, persisted.

Looking at Twitter, we see that around midnight, nine fire vehicles were dispatched to the area.

[1] TOR Fire: Commercial Industrial (lower Jarvis St - Queens Quay E) R325 P333 P334 A333 C33 C31 R326 A325 La333 P312

The circus is here (sorta)! Cirque du Soleil setting up shop on Queens Quay

(One of the sites of the Cirque event, with extra trailers and towers visible. Click here for larger image)

Oh yes, don't you know it's June, given these cooler days we've been having lately? Well, Toronto, that city of the summer, is set to transport thousands to our waterfront in a few weeks with the launch of Luminato starting this weekend.

Of course, we've written about one of the big closing events for the Luminato, the Cirque de Soleil events on the weekend of the 13th to 16th. We'll write about road closures later, but for today, you may have noticed the trucks rolling into the neighbourhood.

Below, you can see the Cirque trailer in the distance (blue with gold lettering)



And an idea of how much electricity this event will need to power it.



And one of the tower-like platforms.



That's right, the circus has arrived and they're already starting to set up at HTO Park. They've set up fences around the fire stations and as we write this Tuesday night, they've already put up five towers, all about three-storeys high. We're sure this will make what ever performances they'll be giving visible the anticipated crowds who'll converge on the western part of Queens Quay (for once) and those of us with balconey views.

Our last post cited a Globe story "departure from the tightly controlled big-top and Las Vegas spectacles it's known for - representing a throwback of sorts to the company's street-performer roots, albeit one shaped by the massive creative resources Cirque now has at its disposal."

Summer camps on Queens Quay

We got a note from the folks at Harbourfront Centre about their summer camps, which start on June 29.

Harbourfront Centre offers a wide range of arts-based, speciality, marine and sports camps all summer long. Your child can learn to kayak, act in a theatre production, become a fashion designer or express him or herself through writing.

You can visit their website here.

We've got our own outside food market on Queens Quay, every Tuesday

Saw this from Adam Vaughan's newsletter:

Summer is back and the Waterfront Good Food Market is moving outdoors again...and
will now be weekly! Fresh affordable local and organic produce, baked goods, honey,
maple syrup, jams and pickles. There will also be roasted corn and gourmet cool
summer soups.
Date:
Every Tuesday, rain or shine
From June 2 to Sept 29
Time:
6-8 p.m.
Location:
679 Queens Quay West, in the courtyard
1 block west of Bathurst St.
Special thanks to our partner, FoodShare Toronto, and to Toronto Community Housing
and the City of Toronto for their support.

BQNA event Wednesday: Dreamwork of the Whales at Little Norway Park

Thanks to the Bathurst Quay Residents Association for passing this along to us.

We're hosting an event here at Bathurst Quay that Queens Quay Life readers will be interested in. The story of how a particular piece of public art, the 40-foot-tall carved maypole entitled Dreamwork of the Whales, came to be created and located in this neighbourhood has lots of interesting, quirky details, and everyone on Queens Quay remains blessed to have this mysterious work in our midst.

It was 1979 when sculptor/designer Ben Barclay and a fellow artist were visiting the Harbourfront Contemporary Art Gallery (the Power Plant's predecessor) on a trip home to Toronto from Vancouver, where they had been living and working in an artists' collective. Their conversation was overheard by the gallery director and a spark was struck.

Months of fundraising followed and by the next spring, a 40-foot Western Red Cedar selected in British Columbia arrived at the Bathurst Quay on Toronto's waterfront. The quay was a big, open, green space then, with the only structures being the Canada Malting Silos and the Tip Top Tailors building; the Little Norway barracks from WW II and the Maple Leafs baseball stadium were long gone. We'll view a film that documented the entire process and it's fascinating in many respects.

A core group of 5 designer/sculptors, with the help of some guest carvers, worked for nearly 5 months to design and carve the 40-foot-tall maypole still standing today in Little Norway Park (at Queens Quay and Bathurst) entitled Dreamwork of the Whales. There were lots of children from the neighbourhoods to the north who played nearby, talking with and inspiring the artists who occasionally let the kids do a bit of carving! The Toronto Folk Festival took place around them at one point in the summer. The artists were invited for home-cooked dinners on many occasions and recall the spirit of community that made it a summer of love, Toronto style.

Now, 29 years later, four of the artists who collaborated on this imaginative masterpiece have accepted our invitation to return for a celebration of the maypole and the spirit of creativity and collaboration that brought it forth.

Please join us for this evening of celebration, if you can. As the evening progresses, we'll hear stories from each of the artists, learn to appreciate better the creation story carved into the maypole, and find out what preservation steps we should take to ensure the maypole lasts for generations to come.

TIME: Wednesday, June 3rd, 6:45 pm, Rain or Shine
PLACE: Little Norway Park, Queens Quay West 1 block west of Bathurst
FILM VIEWING: follows inside at 7:45 pm in nearby Harbourfront Community Centre
FREE ADMISSION