Guildwood

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For the commuter rail station, see Guildwood GO Station.
Guildwood
Neighbourhood
Guildwood Parkway
Guildwood Parkway
Location of Guildwood within Toronto
Location of Guildwood within Toronto
Coordinates: 43°44′51″N 79°11′58″W / 43.74750°N 79.19944°W / 43.74750; -79.19944
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
City Toronto Toronto
Community Scarborough
Established 1957 (Subdivision)
Changed Municipality 1998 Toronto from Flag of Scarborough, Ontario.svg Scarborough
Government
 • MP John McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood)
 • MPP Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough—Guildwood)
 • Councillor Paul Ainslie (Ward 43 Scarborough East)

Guildwood, also known as Guildwood Village, is a residential neighbourhood in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along the Scarborough Bluffs, south of Kingston Road, from Grey Abbey Trail in the east (though in the past, Morningside Avenue was the eastern boundary) to the end of Sylvan Avenue in the west.[1]

History[edit]

Guildwood village was developed around the Inn, starting in 1957 with the famous "Avenue of Homes" display of upscale homes.[2] The community introduced a number of new ideas in subdivision design, including winding roads and cul-de-sacs to reduce through traffic, and underground power and phone lines. " Rear-lot parks were modelled after English footpaths as walkways within the community."[3] The subdivision was also entered through the former gates of Toronto's Stanley Barracks (New Fort York), which had been salvaged and re-erected at the entrance to Guildwood Village after all but the officer's quarters were demolished in 1953. These gates, now called the "Guildwood Gates" still provide a unique and grand entrance to the community at the corner of Kingston Road and Guildwood Parkway.43°44′58″N 79°12′20″W / 43.74944°N 79.20556°W / 43.74944; -79.20556 (Gates%20of%20Guildwood)

Architecture[edit]

At the heart of the village is the Guild Inn, a former arts centre and hotel inside Guildwood Park, which is operated by the City of Toronto. The Inn was closed in 2001. Currently, a request for proposals to revitalize the site has been extended by the City of Toronto after a previous deal with Centennial College collapsed after Centennial expressed a desire to build condominium apartment buildings within the park.

Just west of the Guild Inn is Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute. Guildwood Park also has columns, a sundial and many other historical architectural fragments[4] from the façades of demolished buildings in Downtown Toronto.

In popular culture[edit]

The Guild Inn is home to many movies such as The Skulls, and the neighbourhood is used by TV shows such as Odyssey 5. Drake's video "Headlines" was partly filmed at the Guild Inn by the amphitheatre. Saini Surinder's music video for a currently unreleased track as of February 2012 was shot at the Guildwood amphitheatre with Director Jared Pelletier.[5]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 43°44′42″N 79°11′46″W / 43.745°N 79.196°W / 43.745; -79.196