The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common - Similar companies

The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common is a not-for-profit organization supported by memberships, donations, grants and ... generous volunteers. We exist primarily to support the fort and advocate its best interests, including the well-being of our neighbourhood. While defending the integrity of the site has always had the first call on our time, programming has come next. From 1997 to 2000 we staged several weekend-long re-enactments and festivals for the enjoyment of site-visitors but found the funds and manpower needed to mount these outstripped our means and revenues, particularly as our obligations to the Fort York Guard and Drums increased. Convinced of the need to rebuild an active military presence at the fort which had been a casualty of budget cuts in the early 1990s we took over responsibility for the Guard from the City in 1999, and founded the Fife and Drum Corps the following year. Not only do we recruit, train and outfit annually the 20 to 25 young men and women who make up these squads, but we also cover their wages. Given our early focus on land-planning and development, it is not surprising these continue as strong interests that are evident in reports we have prepared and published, such as Fort York: Setting It Right, and Fort York: Adding New Buildings. We have also taken positions such as advocating safe, open connections under the Bathurst Street bridge when it is rebuilt, and supporting strongly the City's position in urging Metrolinx to lower the Georgetown rail corridor at Strachan Avenue so the bridge to be constructed there doesn't disrupt the street-grid in the Niagara Neighbourhood. We also support the efforts of the Fort York staff through exhibits, programs, live interpreters, and historic settings to encourage a new level of understanding about the War of 1812 era and Fort York's role in the development of modern day Toronto. read more