If Geoff Cape's vision remains undimmed, a crumbling, 116-year-old industrial site deep in the Don Valley basin could become Toronto's premier eco-tourism attraction.

The plan: To rehabilitate and redefine the Brick Works, a pocket of derelict buildings and surrounding 41 acres of abandoned quarries, floodplains and Carolinian woodlands skirting the Bayview Extension.

"It promises to be a premier educational, geological and ecological playground for the world to enjoy," states Cape, founder and executive director of Evergreen, a national non-profit environmental organization dedicated to greening up the grime of Canada's cities, and the organization spearheading the Brick Works rejuvenation project.

"It will put Toronto on the map in terms of historical site preservation and a model for the feasibility of sustainable cities."

Photos by Brennan O'Connor, Business Edge
Evergreen has been renovating buildings at the Don Valley Brick Works as part of renaturalizing the valley's brownfields.

Christened "Evergreen Commons at the Brick Works", the project's proposed design is intended to show how nature can make cities more livable.

"We see this evolving into a year-round centre for experiential learning, fun and celebration for the citizens of Toronto and visitors alike," says Cape.

Evergreen Commons will offer an estimated 250,000 annual visitors a range of programs, including woodworking, gardening, ceramics, Outward Bound rope courses, winter skating and summer-camp activities. The site's showpiece, Evergreen Gardens, comprises a 110,000-sq.-ft. demonstration garden-cum-greenhouse and will employ at-risk youth. The plan also encompasses an adjacent organic farmers market and a café-on-the-green run by celebrated Toronto restaurateur Jamie Kennedy.

The Brick Works blueprint has been endorsed by city council. The proposal goes next to the Toronto Preservation Board and then to public consultations. "The plan hasn't received much opposition, aside from some nearby residents saying they don't want that the site used for rock concerts," says Cape, adding that with those concerns allayed he's hoping the proposal will inch through the approval process without substantive changes.

Mayor David Miller firmly supports Evergreen's initiative. "Beauty begets beauty," he says. "This plan enriches our community by maintaining and enhancing public space, and by rejuvenating these important heritage buildings. This will create an exciting new Toronto destination showcasing the themes of community, culture and ecology. I hope it inspires residents and business owners in their own yards and places of business. I want all of us to have a higher threshold for the level of beauty we find satisfactory."

According to Miller, Evergreen Commons at the Brick Works will also act as a natural gateway to the city's expansive, and currently under-used, trail and ravine system.

"In developing the site, Evergreen is also providing an open public space to be enjoyed year round," he says.

Echoing that message is Jane Pitfield, city councillor for Ward 26, which abuts the Brick Works lands. "There's already been a substantial amount of money spent by government to find purpose for this site," she says. Most recently, the buildings had been used variously as a venue for antique shows, automobile exhibits, an artists' space, and as the backdrop set for several feature films. "As of now these are still abandoned buildings," nods Pitfield. "It's important for us to breathe life into them again."

As a member of the Toronto Preservation Board, Pitfield says she's excited by Evergreen Commons as one of the city's most imaginative cultural developments. "I'm not a purist about heritage preservation," she concedes. "I do believe that we need to protect these sites, to enhance and refurbish them, and they should in some way benefit the city and its citizens. Evergreen Commons offers us not only a variety of mixed uses, but it's vital to create jobs and to attract more tourism."

The Brick Works has been owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) since 1987 and is managed by the City of Toronto. To develop the Brick Works site, Evergreen has secured a memorandum of understanding from the City of Toronto. Evergreen has also raised approximately $6 million from private donations toward an ultimate campaign goal of $32 million.

Last June, the Ontario government kicked in with a $10- million grant to the project. In announcing the province's contribution, Minister of Culture Madeleine Meilleur said: "The Don Valley Brick Works produced the bricks to build the foundations of many of the province's heritage buildings, from Old City Hall to Queen's Park. By investing in Evergreen Commons at the Brick Works, the Ontario government continues to build strong communities and nurture a healthy environment, while celebrating Ontario's rich industrial roots."

Evergreen is lobbying Ottawa to provide $10 million funding to kickstart the development. "We're waiting to hear back," nods Cape. "We expect to start construction soon, and anticipate about 18 to 24 months to complete the remodelling and renovations of the buildings. Our goal is to open sometime in 2007."

The Brick Works and its wooded environs have been in the public eye since restoration of this portion of the Don Valley first began in 1995 with the creation of a wetland habitat as part of the TRCA's plan to renaturalize the valley's brownlands.

The complex of brick-making buildings and accompanying quarries are now designated a heritage site, one cemented in the city's past.

The river valley was an inland transportation route known to Aboriginal peoples for its abundant hunting and fishing. European settlement in the Lower Don began about 200 years ago. Fertile floodplain lands were cleared by farmers to grow fruits and vegetables, while the wood was used for building and heating.

Don Valley Brick Works, founded by the Taylor family around 1890, used rock extracted from the nearby valley walls and water from the river to produce much of Toronto's building stone for the next 50 years.

While significant for its role in regional industrial heritage, the north face of the old Brick Works quarry is also recognized internationally for its Pleistocene geology - excavation has revealed a series of glacial and fossil deposits at least 300,000 years old.

But by the mid-1900s, this once thickly-wooded valley had been reshaped into an industrial and transportation corridor at the expense of greenspace and local ecology - most of the mixed deciduous and coniferous forests have since disappeared.

"That's why it's crucial to preserve what we still have here," emphasizes Cape.

Evergreen's philosophy is hard at work across the country. Bringing nature to cities through naturalization projects, Evergreen is mandated to help people create and sustain healthy, natural outdoor spaces through its core programs: Learning Grounds - the organization and its corps of volunteers have transformed 1,500 school grounds across Canada to give students an opportunity to experience outdoor classes; Common Grounds - conserving publicly accessible lands; and Home Grounds - designed to restore and enhance the natural environment around the home landscape.

Another Evergreen mission is "The Nature of Cities," a partnership with municipalities in the Georgia Basin of British Columbia to protect and restore natural green space in local communities spanning the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley north to Pemberton, as well as communities on the southeast part of Vancouver Island from Victoria to Campbell River.

"All these principles are front and centre in our Brick Works proposal," says Cape. "And Evergreen is committed to continue to nurture the site as it grows into one of Ontario's most vibrant, educational and inspirational destinations."

(Kohane can be reached at kohane@businessedge.ca)