The Robertson Building

In this issue of the Pipeline we celebrate the Green Toronto Awards, Vital Ideas, and the Centre for Social Innovation's third birthday. We welcome the Playwrights Guild of Canada and Visual Arts Ontario. We get up close and personal with the Canadian Art Foundation and in our Green Corner we have a look at Green Living Magazine's Green Listers.

In the words of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatre’s
(PACT, Suite 210) Executive Director Lucy White, in thirty years of working
with non-profit theatres on basic issues like funding “lots has changed, and lots hasn’t changed.” One big change for PACT is that they are about to move into a new larger space at 215 Spadina, Suite 555, as they are virtually busting at the seams in their current shared space. The growth of the organization has been gradual and feels like a natural evolution, but if you had asked Lucy six years ago if they would have six people on staff she’s not sure what she would have said.

CCI - Ontario’s Arts Presenting Network (Suite 125) were paid a visit by the Minister of Culture Caroline Di Cocco and Helen Burstyn, Chair of the Ontario Trillium Foundation to launch the Municipal Cultural Planning Partnership (MCPP). Thanks to a $230,500 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the program is now up and running.

The MCPP will bring together multiple groups such as culture sector organizations, municipal governments, planners, and passionate community leaders to discuss ideas for supporting and fostering vibrant, creative, and successful communities.

The launch of the program was celebrated at the Centre for Social Innovation (Suite 400) and included esteemed guests and supporters.

This year Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (LEAF) teamed up with the Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC) to offer an exciting line up of tree tours through neighbourhoods in Toronto. As a special treat, the tour chose our busy urban area to take a look at some examples of the kind of green you can find on your very own doorstep, even if you live at Queen and Spadina. The tour started in the roof garden at 401 Richmond and made its way up Spadina to the Robertson Building with a few stops in between. 

We don’t usually do this, but we are going to toot our own bike horn a little because we are very excited to have been recognized by the City of Toronto with a Bicycle Friendly Business Award for Best Large Business.

The award was presented to Urbanspace Property Group and the Centre for Social Innovation (Suite 120 + 400) in a ceremony on October 4. In a collaborative effort between us and our community-minded tenant CSI, the award was granted based on infrastructure and programs in place such as the bike racks in the basement of the building and CSI’s new bike share program (see more about this on the opposite page).

The awards are presented each year to businesses and organizations who find ways to encourage their employees and clients to cycle.

Who would have thought that a simple idea like offering a bike share program would attract so much attention? Since Eli Malinsky and the Centre for Social Innovation (Suite 120 + 400) got their bike share program up and running they have been featured on CBC and in a documentary that is being filmed across the globe looking at this popular form of transportation. 

Last year, the Community Bicycle Network, the previous administrators of a herd of yellow bikes, lost it’s funding. When Eli came up with the idea of starting a sharing network it made sense to take advantage of the collection of bikes that were sitting stationary in a warehouse. Three of them made their way to 215 Spadina and the program was launched. If you, or any of your clients, are interested in checking out a bike for use just drop in to Suite 400 and Yvonne can hand over the keys to a bike lock!

Well, the fifth floor is full to the brim with a group of new tenants who are settling in and making it home. With renovations to the space completed we brought all the new residents of the top floor together for a chance to get to know their neighbours. The newest member, Artez Interactive (Suite 500) moved in just in time to grab a coffee and meet the other folks sharing their floor. AV Communications (Suite 560), Usability Matters Suite 550), Rethink Breast Cancer (Suite 570), and Hewitt Johnston Consultants (Suite 510) all joined in the fun, which included some impromtu suite tours and idea sharing about how best to use their spaces.

You can find out more about our new tenants by visiting:
www.artez.com
www.usabilitymatters.com

CanadaHelps (Suite 330) is about creating innovative ways to connect donors with charities so that Canadians can do their part to help boost organizations working to improve the community for all of us. We sat down with Executive Director Owen Charters to find out how last year a staff of five was able to get a whopping twenty million dollars into the hands of charities.

The secret seems to be a combination of innovative technology and a handful of dedicated people who not only keep the well oiled machine running, but constantly develop new ways to make giving as easy and fun as possible.

NEW FACES AT THE ROBERTSON

In this issue catch a profile on Roots of Empathy, get a full introduction to all the new tenants at the Robertson Building, find out about lean and clean manufacturing, and get all the details for the eigth annual Doors Open Toronto!