Just three years old and the Baby Point Gates Business Improvement Area (BIA) is an award winner.
The local BIA was honoured for the most ‘Oustanding’ gateway at the annual Toronto Business Improvement Area Recognition Awards dinner, Tuesday, Dec. 2 at the Palais Royale Ballroom on Lake Shore Boulevard at Parkside Drive.
"It’s nice to be appreciated for all the hard work," said the Baby Point Gates BIA board member and chair of the restoration committee Danica Loncar. "(The gates) look fantastic. We’re honoured."
Restoring the 100-plus-year-old gates at Jane and Annette streets was a two-year project. It was funded by the BIA with support from the city and the Baby Point Club.
A focal point of the BIA and the surrounding area, the gates saw the addition of new landscaping, upgraded and additional ground lighting not only for ambiance, but for safety as well, vintage reproductions of existing lanterns were constructed and new benches installed. A victim of graffiti, the gates’ stone and mortar were rehabilitated. A new plaque commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Robert Homes Smith-designed gates and the creation of the BIA. Loncar would like to give a shout out to principal architect Tom Ridout of the landscape architectural firm Fleisher Ridout Partnership Inc.
Grateful for the city’s nomination, Loncar said the award was "a nice surprise."
"It was wonderful, a beautiful ceremony," she said. "We’re really proud of our area and our membership."
Baby Point Gates wasn’t the only BIA to be recognized. Junction Gardens BIA received a ‘Master Plan’ award; Bloordale Village was acknowledged for its streetscape; Bloor West Village BIA received a volunteer award;
In collaboration with city council, business owners and tenants have formed as many as 78 BIAs across Toronto to maintain safety, enhance the look of their neighbourhoods and attract businesses to the area.