Hi everyone,

I am including the letter that was sent with a package of information to all
57 city councillors yesterday.  It took me four hours to get to all of them
and my feet are still sore!  Anyway, some are supportive and some are simply
polite.  A large portion of work needs to be done by the members.  I have
also emailed every councillor this morning from home and have send
information to the media.  Thankfully the city hall has a press room so that
was not to hard.  I spoke with the editor of the North York Mirror.  I will
be preparing a press release today or monday and it will be talking about
the recent city of Toronto's Doors Open event where 97 properties not
normally open to the public were opened for the weekend.  The Dempsey had
many visitors.  I will be commenting on this and calling the closure of the
Dempsey a 'doors closed campaign.'

If you can launch your own personal lobby effort with all councillors or
just with the ones in your area, it would be helpful.  If you want to send
the same letter or modify it for yourself, please go right ahead.

Thanks and I hope you can find the time to do this.

Heather


Box 46009, College Park Post Office
444 Yonge Street
Toronto     ON     M5B 2L8
tel (416) 934-3400 x 506     fax (416) 934-3444
Web: http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/people/affiliated/aao/     E-mail:
[log in to unmask]




June 1, 2000


Dear City Councillor,


At your next city council meeting you will make an important decision
regarding the future of the Dempsey Store one of two historic landmarks
still standing and open to the public in the former Borough of North York.
Our history, our archives and our historical buildings are an important
legacy to all Torontonians, be they individuals, parents or children.  The
Dempsey Store is a standing testament to the growth of our country and to
that of our city.  The Store originally stood at the corner of Yonge and
Sheppard in what once was a rural outpost of North York.  In this day of
rapid growth, it can be hard to imagine that Toronto and its amalgamated
cities were ever  sleepy towns and villages with horse drawn carriages and
gas lights.

Ontario's heritage and that of our towns, cities and boroughs are a living
legacy to the future.  Our heritage is a combination of many things:
buildings, costumes, photographs, letters, books and more. One cannot hope
that future generations will understand the people, events, emotions and
struggles that produced the present and will shape our future without all
pieces of the past's puzzle intact.  Personal interest in heritage is
growing and the Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) would posit this
reason: heritage is our personal connection with our community and with the
past.  It places us in context with the moment of our lives and the prospect
that we too may leave a lasting mark for the future.

The then City of North York agreed to renovate the space and house the City
of North York*s archives there when the building was moved to its present
location at 250 Beecroft Ave.  When the North York archives were open to the
public in 1997, over 3,000 individuals and school children visited to learn
more about their local heritage through the understanding of the origins of
the building and by learning about the importance of archives.  Almost
everything we know about the Dempsey Store was gleaned through dedicated
archival work.  Archivists collected documents and conducted personal
interviews to determine the various items once for sale at the Store, its
original layout and design.  These important facts would be lost if not for
archival interests and the North York City Council who supported the
continued use of the space as an archival facility and museum.

As a result of budget cutbacks and the amalgamation of the archives as part
of the amalgamation plan, the Dempsey Store was open to the public only one
day a week and in 1999, there were 574 visitors to the site.


The Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) along with at least 100 other
non-profit associations have applied to the City of Toronto, Facilities and
Real Estate Division for the use of city-owned space at below market
charges.  In early November of 1999, the AAO applied for the use of the
second floor of the Dempsey Store for use as its administrative offices and
intended to keep the store open to the public on a regular basis through
staffing the counter of the ground floor for a minimum of 20 hours per week
in addition to paying $7,000 in rent for the site.  The AAO has not
requested that the site be changed or altered in any way.   Ensuring that
locally created documentary heritage remains intact and available for users
now and in the future is a key priority of the AAO and it is our greatest
contribution to preserving Ontario*s cultural history.

Our request for the site was met favourably as it proceeded through the
regular course of approvals, through the Facilities and Real Estate
Division, through the Administration Committee and finally through City
Council itself, who at its meeting on May 9, 2000 agreed to in the interim,
accommodate the Archives Association of Ontario in the Dempsey Store on a
temporary basis until the Council has decided upon the permanent use of the
building.

The AAO wants the use of the space both for its administrative offices, for
an archives and for a museum.  As archivists we believe that all portions of
our heritage are important.  This building must survive as an historic
landmark, an archives and it should be open for all members of our city to
visit and understand its important role in the creation of the Borough  of
North York.

The Association is concerned that others have also requested the space and
have done so through means that are not in consideration of the many other
deserving non-profits across this city who have patiently applied, waited in
line and have not been rewarded for using the appropriate methods of
obtaining city-owned space.

It is the view of the Association that groups such as the AAO and the North
York Historical Society should occupy sites such as the Dempsey Store in an
effort to strengthen education about our history for both children and
adults.  The Dempsey Store is a great fit for the Association as it will
allow public access to exhibits and educational programming  based on
archival records and continue the intended role of the Dempsey Store as an
archival repository for the community's documentary history.

The AAO would be glad to meet the one of the heritage needs of Toronto by
ensuring the Dempsey Store was open to the public on a regular basis.  It
would be a privilege for the Archives Association of Ontario to have our
first official office site in the Dempsey Store.  Its intended use and the
mission of our Association are a perfect fit and would preserve the legacy
of the Dempsey Store.

The Dempsey Store is important to us.  I hope that your concern for our
heritage, our history and our city will result in a positive vote for the
future use of the Dempsey Store to remain open and available for the public,
the many school children and their learning opportunities, and for our
heritage.

On behalf of our members,

Sincerely,


Marc Lerman
President
Archives Association of Ontario