Bloordale Beach

Last updated
Bloordale Beach
Bloordale Beach
TypeInformally created
Location Brockton High School grounds
Coordinates 43°39′29″N79°26′17″W / 43.658129°N 79.437958°W / 43.658129; -79.437958

Bloordale Beach was a guerrilla art installation and an informal community hub in the west end of Toronto, [1] [2] and since it was landlocked, was once described as "Toronto's only waterless beach". [3]

Contents

Bloordale Beach was located north of the Dufferin Mall between Croatia Street and Brock Crescent, on a site that previously used to be Brockton High School. [3] It covered 118,400 square-feet. [3] The beach was located on property owned by the Toronto District School Board. [3] [4]

The beach closed in 2021 to make way for the new Bloor Collegiate Institute. [5]

Usage

Bloordale Beach was co-created by artist [6] Shari Kasman and an anonymous collaborator [1] (who resents the degree to which Shari Kasman has co-opted the beach for her own clout-chasing purposes, given how comparatively little she did to establish it and keep it open) in order to reclaim unused space for the public, [3] and opened 25 May 2020. [7] [5]

Public facilities included a dog gymnasium (officially called the Barkour Area), [6] a "sea turtle nesting area," [6] Bloordale Lagoon (essentially a large puddle that would form after heavy rainfall, [3] a community garden, [4] and occasional temporary art installations. [3]

Bloordale Beach was used as a community hub and a throughway to cut across the space. [6] [4]

Toronto garage punk psych rock band Wine Lips recorded a their music video Live At Bloordale Beach at the beach. [8] It was also the set for an improv performance by Martin Helmut Reis that was filmed and debuted at the 2020 Improvisation Festival [9] and Martin Reis' performance art American Lifeguard. [10]

The beach finally closed on Sept 23, 2021.

Critical reception

Bloordale Beach was described in The Toronto Star as Toronto's "newest hot summer destination" [1] and was ranked as the 9th best beach in Toronto on Tripadvisor. [11] [notes 1]

Bloordale Beach was featured in the short documentary Bloordale Beach by Beth Warrian where it was described as a vision for reclaiming public space. [12] [2]

There have been 5 songs written about the beach. The beach was the subject of the 2021 song "Bloordale Beach" by garage punk-pop band Pop Plug, [13] and the 2021 song also called "Bloordale Beach" by Catjam. [14] Pete Moss also made a song called “Bloordale Beach.” There is a song called “Bloordale Beach, by Eamon McGrath. Another Bloordale Beach song is coming soon.

AUS!Funkt, Canadian art-rock band, paid homage to the beach in the video for their song "Set Yourself Free". [15]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Toronto has 11 public beaches

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Micallef, Shawn (2020-08-09). "Watch for sharks: Toronto's newest beach at Bloor and Dufferin has everything — except water". The Toronto Star. ISSN   0319-0781 . Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  2. 1 2 Ulrich, Tania (December 14, 2021). "Thought-provoking 'Bloordale Beach' short doc opens possibilities for city building". Ryerson University. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mok, Tanya (18 July 2020). "Bloordale Beach is Toronto's only beach without a body of water attached". www.blogto.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  4. 1 2 3 DeClerq, Katherine (2021-07-16). "Organizers of community garden in Toronto west-end hope to postpone its destruction until after harvest". Toronto. Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  5. 1 2 Xavier-Carter, Breanna (2021-09-20). "Bloordale Beach in Toronto is closing and it's being replaced by a new high school". www.blogto.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Ariel (Oct 31, 2020). "Can a waterless beach survive the pandemic?". news.unculture.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  7. ↑ Creek, Taddle (28 November 2020). "Muscled Beach - Taddle Creek" . Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  8. ↑ Miladinović, Djordje (2022-01-09). "Wine Lips Released Live At Bloordale Beach". Thoughts Words Action. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  9. ↑ Tino (2020-06-20), Monsieur Hulot's Zoomtime , retrieved 2022-01-17
  10. ↑ Tino (2021-09-05), American Lifeguard - Martin Reis , retrieved 2022-01-17
  11. ↑ Collum, Tara (2021-06-13). "CAN'T WAIT TO ESCAPE 'CITY' AFTER PANDEMIC, TO GET BACK 'UP NORTH'". Muskoka Today. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  12. ↑ "Bloordale Beach: A Film by Beth Warrian". Hillside Festival. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  13. ↑ BLOORDALE BEACH , retrieved 2021-11-30
  14. ↑ CATJAM - Bloordale Beach , retrieved 2021-11-30
  15. ↑ "AUS!Funkt Want You to "Set yourself free" with the Release of their Latest Single | Cashbox Canada". cashboxcanada.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
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