Artscape Wychwood Barns Official Opening November 20, 2008

The official opening of the Artscape Wychwood Barns takes place Thursday, November 20 from 3:30pm to 5:30pm with a public ribbon cutting ceremony and open house.

The historic Wychwood TTC streetcar repair barns located in the St. Clair and Bathurst area have been transformed by Artscape and its partners into a 60,000 square foot multi-faceted community and environmental centre with live-work studio space for artists, and work places for artists, environmentalists and people working in the fields of education, urban agriculture and food security.

The Artscape Wychwood Barns is a new generation of community centres constructed to enable creativity and foster a strong sense of community while combining heritage preservation with current best practices in green technologies and environmental management.

This community hub includes, 26 units of social housing for artists and their families, 15 affordable studio spaces for artists’ work, 13 offices for non-profit arts and environmental organizations including The Stop Community Food Centre with its greenhouse and Saturday farmers’ market, rehearsal and animation spaces, a gallery, and a 21st century park and community centre.

The Artscape Wychwood Barns has been carefully planned to be a model of financial and environmental sustainability. Heating and cooling are drawn from the earth’s energy; toilets are flushed with rainwater and many other environmental technologies will help make the Barns the first LEED certified heritage building in Canada. The Barns provide extensive community resources and programs while generating the revenue to pay for its own operating expenses.

Official Website: http://www.torontoartscape.on.ca