Item - 2025.PB26.1

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1.  City Council state its intention to designate the property at 3100 Weston Road under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance for 3100 Weston Road (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 1, to the report, December 18, 2024, from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2.  If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

3.  City Council direct the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning to evaluate the entire property at 3100 Weston Road as a Cultural Heritage Landscape, considering all historical eras of the site including, but not limited to, the area's Indigenous heritage and the Humber River Valley, the post-colonial siting of the private residence, Rivermede, and the property's use by of The Order of Saint Basil, a Ukranian Greek Catholic monastic order, as the site of their church, school (St. Basil-the-Great College), monastery, and printing house, and to recommend any such amendment to this designation as may be necessary.

Loryssa Calogero, Heritage Planner, Policy and Research, Urban Design, City Planning gave a presentation on 3100 Weston Road - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 3100 Weston Road under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value according to the Statement of Significance and description of heritage attributes found in Attachment 1.

The subject property at 3100 Weston Road is located on the west side of Weston Road at the intersection of Weston Road and Sheppard Avenue West. The subject property straddles the boundary of the Humbermede and Pelmo Park-Humberlea neighbourhoods. A location map and current photograph of the heritage property is found in Attachment 2.

Known as Rivermede, the property contains a detached two and a half-storey house-form building with a two and a half-storey garage, a rear pool complex and pumphouse, and an expansive surrounding landscape. Constructed in c.1930-1931 for Percy R. Gardiner and his wife, Gertrude Gardiner, and designed by renowned architect Jocelyn Davidson and landscape architect Arthur M. Kruse, the residence is fashioned in the Tudor Revival style and is set within an expansive lot that extends into the Humber River Valley. The main house holds a prominent position in its setting at the top of the embankment with the primary (east) elevation fronting Weston Road and the rear (west) elevation contains a panoramic view overlooking the Humber-Sheppard Pond (Crang's Pond) to the west. Views of the side (south) elevation of the main house have also been maintained and contribute to its sense of place within the landscape. While much of the original interior detailing, including expansive wood panelling, has since been removed, the original fieldstone fireplace in the main foyer is extant as is the original wood panelling and ceiling beams in the library at the northeast corner of the main house.

In 1958, 3100 Weston Road was sold to The Order of Saint Basil the Great (OSBM) Holding Corporation, a Ukranian Greek Catholic monastic order, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to be the future site of their church, school (St. Basil-the-Great College), monastery, and printing house. The main house at Rivermede, which was used as a residence for the priests, became a full monastery known as the St Gregory of Nyssa Monastery. In 1961-62, the former St. Basil-the-Great College School, which is now Carmine Stefano Community Centre, was constructed in red brick in the Modernist style at the north end of the property. At the rear of the main house at Rivermede, is the former location of the Marian Shrine of Gratitude which was removed prior to the sale of the property in August 2023.

The property at 3100 Weston Road was included on the North York Inventory of Heritage Properties by North York Council on October 6, 1997. The original listing related solely to the former Rivermede house. Following revisions to the Ontario Heritage Act in 2005, 3100 Weston Road and many other properties on pre-amalgamation municipal inventories were included on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register as listed properties on September 27, 2006. 

On September 6, 2023, City Council adopted item MM10.5, a request from Councillor Anthony Perruzza to evaluate the listed property at 3100 Weston Road for designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

City Council amended the Listing Statement on November 8, 2023.

Staff have determined that the property at 3100 Weston Road has cultural heritage value and meets 6 of the Ontario Regulation 9/06 criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. A property may be designated under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, if it meets two or more of the nine criteria.