ACO Toronto - Davisville Junior Public School / Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf

BUILDING INFORMATION

Name & Location:

Davisville Junior Public School / Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf
43 Millwood Road
Toronto
South Eglinton-Davisville

Owner:

Toronto District School Board

First Owner:

Toronto District School Board

Year Destroyed:

2019

OTHER IDENTIFICATION

Alternate Name:

Spectrum Alternative School

Notes:

Now on the National Trust for Canada´s Top Ten Endangered List, This single building houses two schools, which were twinned in September, 2002. Designed by architect Peter Pennington while working at Toronto District School Board under Frederick C Etherington, Chief Architect.

Davisville is one of 30 schools across Ontario to receive funds for complete rebuilds under a $498 million provincial capital funding announcement.

“The funding will allow Davisville to be totally rebuilt into a modern state-of-the-art school, with enough space for up to 728 students (up from its current 525)."

The planned replacement of Davisville Jr. Public School and Spectrum Alternative School near Yonge and Davisville will be designed by Snyder Architects Inc., with PMA Landscape Architects and Stephenson Engineering.

Status:

Demolished

Map:

Loading Map

Companies:

The following companies are associated with this building

Architect - Peter Pennington - Lead designer for the Toronto Board of Education. <-- More buildings by this architect.

BUILDING DATA

Building Type:

School

Current Use:

Educational

Heritage Status:

No heritage status

Main Style:

Mid-century Expressionist <-- More buildings in this style.

Sources:

Click to see 17 Source(s)

School profile
More information
Davisville one of 30 Schools to be rebuilt under $500M
Author - Louise Brown
Date - November 9, 2015
Notes - Article in Toronto Star announcing potential demolition of this important mid-century structure.
More information
Ontario Association of Architects Perspectives Magazine, 1994, V2
Author - Monica Contreras OAA, Luigi Ferrara OAA MRAIC
Date - 1994
Page - 20-21
Notes - Article describing the working relationship at the Toronto Board of Education between Frederick C. Etherington, Chief Architect and Chief designer Peter Pennington, Credits both for Davisville Public School.
Document - OAA Perspectives Article
More information
Toronto Globe and Mail: Architects want to save Davisville school from chopping block
Author - Dave Le Blanc
Date - Feb 4 2016
Notes - Visual artists see potential before the rest of us. They look past the decay and work required to make a neighbourhood habitable and just go with it. A few decades later, the rest of the city agrees and claims the area.

While architects are also artist
More information
School Opening Program
Author - TDSB
Date - June 15, 1962
Notes - Includes a summary of the programme for the Opening Ceremony of Davisville Public School and Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf
Document - Davisville School
City of Toronto Agenda Item
Author - Mary Beth McTeague, Heritage Preservation Services
Notes - You should find herein links to the Background Report, Photographs, Statement of Significance, and Heritage Evaluation, Statement of Significance attached here
Document - 1ad3fa86238507878e8bd12ffe483f22.pdf
More information
Davisville Photos-HPS
Author - HPS
Date - June 2, 2016
Notes - Part of Reasons for Intention to Designate Report
Includes interior, exterior, and aerial photographs of the school.
Document - 7fd516e0e7f67515281c801649b8b39f.pdf
Davisville, Research and Evaluation
Author - Heritage Preservation Services
Date - June 2, 2016
Notes - Background Research on the history of the site, importance of the architecture, interior details
Document - c2c7f265e7286531f241da2ae810ad0e.pdf
Statement of Significance (Reasons for Designation)
Author - HPS
Date - June 2016
Notes - Statement of Significance, part of the Designation Report from Heritage Preservation Services to Toronto Preservation Board and Toronto Community Council. Report was deferred indefinitely at TEYCC.
Document - Davisville Statement of Significance
Davisville Public School/Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf: General Data
Date - November 1962
Notes - This document includes a summary of the proposal and planning of the school, the various components of the building, general construction details (such as materials, construction techniques, and heating, plumbing, and electrical details), project cost ana
Document - Davisville School
Davisville Jr. Public School Intent to Designate Presentation
Author - Carol Kleinfeldt
Date - June 14, 2016
Page - 1-27
Notes - This file includes a powerpoint presentation which proposes the designation of the school as having Heritage Value, and which proposes alternatives to the demolition of the building. It also includes proposed floor plans, 3D mock-ups, and a statement of t
Document - Davisville School Intent to Designate Presentation
Built Heritage News-On Failure to Designate
Author - Catherine Nasmith Architect
Date - July 11, 2016
Notes - On Thursday June 2, the Toronto Preservation Board voted unanimously for designation of Davisville Public School. On June 14 Toronto East York Community Council voted to defer designation indefinitely, and made no provisions for any further discussions wi
More information
Text of Acorn Article-Fall 2016
Author - Catherine Nasmith Architect
Date - 2016
Page - Page 26-27
Notes - So how did such a fine building become the â€œmost expensive to maintainâ€ and a demolition candidate? Simply put, inadequate maintenance budgets combined with a provincial policy that favours new construction. At the core of the issue is that Ontario sc
Document - Lessons from Davisville School, Text for Acorn Article,
School's Out
Author - Alex Bozikovic
Date - Feb 10, 2017
Notes - Article outlining reasons for loss of Davisville Junior School in spite of its obvious architectural merit.
Document - PDF version of Alex Bozikovic Article
More information
Vik Pahwa
Notes - Photographic Images
On Top Ten Endangered List National Trust for Canada
Notes - National Trust for Canada announced June 8, 2017 that the Davisville Junior Public School is on its top ten list of endangered places in Canada, bringing national recognition to the significance and plight of the publicly owned building

More information
Davisville Jr. Public School Redevelopment
Author - Urban Toronto
More information

Davisville Junior Public School / Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf

Sources for Davisville Junior Public School / Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf

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