City of Toronto now owns what could be its oldest tree

City has to resolve tenant issue before turning North York property into parkette

Thestar.com
Feb. 17, 2022
Andrew Palamarchuk

The city has taken ownership of a North York residential property that is home to a centuries-old red oak tree that may be the oldest in Toronto, but a timeline on when the land will be turned into a public parkette remains unclear.

The city paid half the cost of the $860,000 property while a fundraising campaign was set up to help the community raise the other half. The deal was closed Dec. 1 following a brief court battle between the property owner and the city that ended in a verdict favouring the city.

“We became owners because we closed, but we weren’t able to take possession because when the city went to the property, we discovered tenants in the house,” Humber River--Black Creek Coun. Anthony Perruzza said. “It was our understanding that the transfer would be unencumbered, but not so.”

Perruzza said once the “tenant issue” is resolved, the city will begin testing to determine how the house would be demolished without harming the “beautiful, majestic” heritage tree, which according to the city is more than 250 years old. “Then we will start an extensive consultation with the local residents in figuring out how we develop this site in a way that is sensitive to neighbourhood issues ... because we do have four abutting residential properties,” he said. “I want to have an extensive conversation with people in the neighbourhood to see how it is that people will be able to enjoy the tree while at the same time protecting and preserving the neighbourhood.”

Perruzza wouldn’t speculate on when the tenants will move out, when the demolition will begin or when the parkette will be finished.

The City of Toronto has posted this conceptual rendering of a parkette that will soon surround what could be the city’s oldest tree -- a giant red oak. City of Toronto image

Local resident Edith George had spearheaded the push for the city to purchase the property at 76 Coral Gable Dr. near Weston Road and Sheppard Avenue in the Humbermede neighbourhood. She began working to save the red oak, whose trunk’s circumference is more than 16 feet and whose growth had been restricted by the house, 16 years ago.

“I did 163 presentations about this tree all over the province, and I even did two in Detroit, Michigan,” George, 69, said. “I don’t have any children ... This tree is my legacy to the greatest city in the world.”

George, who calls the red oak Zhelevo after the Macedonian village her family originates from, said the tree bears First Nations history, explaining that it’s in the vicinity of the historic Toronto Carrying Place trail that was used by Indigenous people. “This parkette must be named a First Nations name,” she said, adding the “landscaping should be done by First Nations.”

George noted the tree parkette is also a “perfect place” for outdoor education.

Fred Martin, a Traditional Indigenous Knowledge consultant, said he’ll work with George to develop a significant program of TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) at the site.

“As an Indigenous person, nature and the land itself, play one of the most important parts in defining our language, our identity and our culture,” he said in an email. “The trees and indeed the water that allows them to grow to such immense heights and stature such as this, have become a rallying point for many Indigenous individuals and groups.”

Ontario poet laureate Randell Adjei poses by the great red oak on Coral Gable Drive on Jan. 15. He’s in the process of writing a poem on the centuries-old tree. Edith George photo

George has also reached out to the province’s poet laureate, Randell Adjei, who recently visited the tree and is in the process of writing a poem in its honour. “I’m hoping it can be an ode to the tree, something to really honour the tree and its legacy and what it’s been able to do for that community,” Adjei said. “That tree has a history ... It just had a presence. It had an energy.”

George said she wants the poem to be displayed in a plaque at the parkette.

Perruzza said he likes George’s ideas, adding they’ll be part of the community consultation process, which he stressed will be “locally driven.”