Struggling with violence, Lawrence Heights may not get the community centre it was promised
(The Star Fashion & Style)

Premier Doug Ford’s provincial PC government has backed out of $14 million in funding promised by the former Liberal government for a new community centre in Lawrence Heights, putting the future of the project in limbo at a time when the neighbourhood has been overwhelmed by gun violence.The community has endured at least nine shootings in the last month alone, which police have called “concerning” and local Councillor Mike Colle (Ward 8 Eglinton-Lawrence) said has frustrated residents. An incident Wednesday night saw reported gunshots bring police to the area, where officers found a shell casing but no victims, suspects or property damage.Experts have long emphasized the importance of providing young people with safe spaces specifically for them as well as access to recreation as part of addressing the root causes of violence. The seminal Roots of Youth Violence report, prepared for provincial leaders a decade ago, said the lack of such spaces was one of the “loudest messages” the authors heard from youth they spoke to and those that work with them.“The police have got everybody in here and meanwhile these shootings are still occurring and that’s what’s very troubling for them and the community,” said Colle. “We’re trying to build the place up and get positive activity and hope in the area and then this thing that we could have probably been working on right now, the money disappears from the province.”The hub — in a neighbourhood which long had a maze of Toronto Community Housing townhomes at its heart in an area tucked into the space where Allen Rd. meets Hwy 401 in North York just south of Yorkdale mall — was planned to be cost-shared by three levels of government as part of an ongoing revitalization that is rebuilding social housing mixed with market homes and condos. The new community centre was part of a master plan for the area approved by council in 2011. In 2018, the pr ...