Guild Inn proposal will see partial demolition, addition to building

Twice since, the City of Toronto has tried unsuccessfully to sign agreements with third-party operators who would restore and run the Inn.

In April, however, Toronto council allowed the city to enter a lease agreement with a third suitor, Dynamic Hospitality and Entertainment Group, which submitted a site plan for a banquet hall and restaurant the following month.

Dynamic’s plan involves cutting the damaged Inn back its original form, known as the Bickford Residence, before adding a 23,500-square-foot hall with an 800-person capacity to its west side, and an outdoor, 4,100-square-foot ceremonial space, "akin to a gazebo," on the east side, Katrien Darling, the city’s senior community planner for Scarborough told a community meeting.

Dynamic’s construction could start next spring, provided the city can finalize the plan and complete months of rehabilitation and demolition before then, she said at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Guildwood.

The restoration, residents heard, will preserve interior features of the house - a military convalescent hospital before it was the centre of an art colony run by former owners Rosa and Spencer Clark - such as its main staircase, fireplace and some wood panelling.

More parking and a new driveway would be added, and Dynamic, which would keep offices on the Bickford’s second floor, would separate its new wings from the historic house with glass foyers, and display loaned artifacts that tell the story of the Inn and Guild Park.

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• Dec 31, 1969
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"This is the furthest in the process that this has ever gotten," said Scarborough East Councillor Paul Ainslie, adding so far Dynamic "is respecting the wishes of this community."

Ainslie said activities will continue on the grounds during 18 months of construction to the best of the city’s ability, and Dynamic won’t control any part of the 88-acre park outside the building’s footprint. "First and foremost, it is a public park."

Dynamic’s president Sam Duva said the company is working on plans for the restaurant, which it plans to operate seven days a week, and wants to ask the community for ideas.

"Without the community, we’re not a viable enterprise," said Duva, who later said Dynamic chose the Guild because it is a beautiful, even iconic, site in Scarborough, though the old Inn has become an eyesore.

"We’re not interested in building a dining hall. We’re interested in building a landmark," he added.

The restored Inn will also have to make community space available through permits, at rates that are comparable to other city-owned facilities.

Donna Milovanovic, president of the Guildwood Village Community Association, said she’s not going to use it for monthly meetings because her group cannot afford the permits.

"You may not have many community people using it," she said, before adding the old Guild Inn let her association use a free room. "We just paid for the tea and coffee."

Later, however, Milovanovic said the restoration and redevelopment of the Inn is something the community wants to see happen, and Guildwood residents would like a nice restaurant and ceremonial space for the area.

Though some residents were skeptical about the Dynamic proposal’s effect on local traffic, Bob Saunders, a former Guildwood resident said he doesn’t remember traffic jams on Guildwood Parkway when the Inn was thriving, and "the go-to place for a celebratory dinner."

Saunders is chairperson of the Toronto Preservation Board and vice-chairperson of the Scarborough Preservation Panel, both of which support the proposal because members felt a plan that preserved not only interior features of the Bickford but the exterior "was a major, major plus."

The Inn was recently placed on a national list of endangered heritage properties, with the city accused of allowing its slow "demolition by neglect."

"If you don’t use a building, you’re going to lose it, and that was what was happening," said Saunders, adding he hopes the proposal goes forward this fall, "and I just trust the community will support the restaurant."

John Mason, president of Friends of the Guild Park and Gardens, said Wednesday’s was the first public meeting on the proposal in the two years since the city began its latest search for a third-party operator. He argued an ongoing consultation with residents is needed as work continues.

The Inn’s revival is connected to other plans the city and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority have to invest millions in improvements, either on the property or below it along the Scarborough Bluffs.

The city is reviewing a management plan for Guild Park as well as studying a 2009 plan for the "cultural precincts" surrounding the Inn, with an eye to revising or adding features and activities to the park grounds.

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority this month announced it will study the creation of a continuous shoreline park, known as the Scarborough Waterfront Project, between East Point and Bluffers parks, creating a waterfront trail link to Guild Park.