Photo by: Miss Rogue

Do you have a great place to take a date while you’re in Toronto?  What about your most romantic place for a first date (or last)?  We’d love to hear from you!  Simply email us (promoteyourdate@LoveInToronto.com) or submit comments about your favourites and worst and we’ll share them with the rest of Toronto and the world!

Love In Toronto team

writing photo by: TheGiantVermin

Hello readers!

Do you have a great date that you went on and want to let us know where it was?  What about a place that you wouldn’t recommend?  Love In Toronto would love to hear about it!  We’ve been busy going on dates ourselves, writing about them and making recommendations on the site and we’d love to get your input.

If you have some tips, places, themes or ideas, send them our way:  promoteyourdate@LoveInToronto.com

The Don Jail closes its doors

The Don Jail closes its doors

I didn’t see this one coming, but I just got this in from the media company promoting the Don Jail.  Seems like there are legal issues with this site.  Too bad because I was hoping that i’d be able to go during the summer.  The press release is below:

“The Historic Don Jail, which was to be open for public tours and events this summer, will now remain closed.  This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Torontonians and tourists to see the inside of this architectural gem before it is gutted to build Bridgepoint’s new hospital administration offices has been lost forever.

Bridgepoint has pulled the plug on the project before any events could take place, leaving their event management company, Slingshot Inc., event planners, and the public high and dry.

Slingshot Inc. announced today that an ongoing battle between the Jail’s owner, Bridgepoint Health (Hospital) and the Ontario Realty Corporation, a leaseholder, have prevented the activities from taking place.

Slingshot, who signed a contract with Bridgepoint to manage the activities at the Jail, is understandably devastated.  The company’s marketing campaign created tremendous buzz within the event community and among the thousands of history buffs who wanted to see inside the historic facility.   “Everything had fallen into place.  We were inundated with requests by planners wanting to produce events in the building.” We were also overjoyed with the number of people who wanted to take one of the guided tours we developed” stated Slingshot partner Chris MacKechnie.

This hard work appears to have been the project’s undoing.  Just two days after the company’s PR campaign earned space in virtually every media vehicle in the city, the project was halted when employees at the Ontario Realty Corporation saw the coverage.

The Ontario Realty Corporation, a tenant of the building, refused to allow the contract to proceed.

Slingshot was invited to attend a meeting with Bridgepoint, the ORC, and a number of other government departments to discuss moving forward.  At that time, Nik Chatterjee of the ORC stated to the group that the ORC had never been advised of the activities that Slingshot had been contracted to produce at the Jail.

Nobody from Bridgepoint challenged the statement making Slingshot believe that the ORC was kept in the dark of the plans, causing a rift between the two parties with Slingshot caught in the middle.  There was no workable way to proceed.

“Because we had a solid contract with the Hospital, we thought our plans were approved.  We had no idea that there was another party who could pull the plug.  It appears that Bridgepoint did not have the authority to sign the contract they wrote.  And the ORC seemed determined to prevent any activities from taking place in the building” stated MacKechnie.

“We are a small business, so the damage this has caused to our company, both to our finances as well as to our reputation is devastating.” Because its efforts have been focused on the Jail project for months, the company now finds itself without any other projects booked until well into October.

“We feel badly for the people who pre purchased tour tickets, we feel badly for the events we have had to cancel on the organizers, and we feel badly for our staff that we have had to let go unexpectedly just as everything was starting to pay off.  Most importantly, we feel horrible that Torontonians and tourists will never have the opportunity to witness this important piece of history and architecture, and to hear, see, and feel its stories.  It is a real loss.  Why the people making the decisions could not see that, I will never understand.”

The 145-year-old Jail is an architectural wonder that few people have ever seen. Its gothic architecture featured an awe-inspiring rotunda with walkways encircling it being supported by wrought-iron dragons and snakes.

When it was closed in 1977, the building was padlocked and has remained vacant ever since. The summer opening would have been the first and only time the public could have seen this building before it is gutted and turned into the offices of a new hospital being erected by Bridgepoint.”

For more information, check out the Don Jail’s website.

The Historic Don Jail, which was to be open for public tours and events this summer, will now remain closed.  This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Torontonians and tourists to see the inside of this architectural gem before it is gutted to build Bridgepoint’s new hospital administration offices has been lost forever.

Bridgepoint has pulled the plug on the project before any events could take place, leaving their event management company, Slingshot Inc., event planners, and the public high and dry.

Slingshot Inc. announced today that an ongoing battle between the Jail’s owner, Bridgepoint Health (Hospital) and the Ontario Realty Corporation, a leaseholder, have prevented the activities from taking place.

Slingshot, who signed a contract with Bridgepoint to manage the activities at the Jail, is understandably devastated. The company’s marketing campaign created tremendous buzz within the event community and among the thousands of history buffs who wanted to see inside the historic facility. “Everything had fallen into place. We were inundated with requests by planners wanting to produce events in the building.” We were also overjoyed with the number of people who wanted to take one of the guided tours we developed” stated Slingshot partner Chris MacKechnie.

This hard work appears to have been the project’s undoing. Just two days after the company’s PR campaign earned space in virtually every media vehicle in the city, the project was halted when employees at the Ontario Realty Corporation saw the coverage.

The Ontario Realty Corporation, a tenant of the building, refused to allow the contract to proceed.

Slingshot was invited to attend a meeting with Bridgepoint, the ORC, and a number of other government departments to discuss moving forward. At that time, Nik Chatterjee of the ORC stated to the group that the ORC had never been advised of the activities that Slingshot had been contracted to produce at the Jail.

Nobody from Bridgepoint challenged the statement making Slingshot believe that the ORC was kept in the dark of the plans, causing a rift between the two parties with Slingshot caught in the middle. There was no workable way to proceed.

“Because we had a solid contract with the Hospital, we thought our plans were approved. We had no idea that there was another party who could pull the plug. It appears that Bridgepoint did not have the authority to sign the contract they wrote. And the ORC seemed determined to prevent any activities from taking place in the building” stated MacKechnie.

“We are a small business, so the damage this has caused to our company, both to our finances as well as to our reputation is devastating.” Because its efforts have been focused on the Jail project for months, the company now finds itself without any other projects booked until well into October.

“We feel badly for the people who pre purchased tour tickets, we feel badly for the events we have had to cancel on the organizers, and we feel badly for our staff that we have had to let go unexpectedly just as everything was starting to pay off. Most importantly, we feel horrible that Torontonians and tourists will never have the opportunity to witness this important piece of history and architecture, and to hear, see, and feel its stories. It is a real loss. Why the people making the decisions could not see that, I will never understand.”

The 145-year-old Jail is an architectural wonder that few people have ever seen. Its gothic architecture featured an awe-inspiring rotunda with walkways encircling it being supported by wrought-iron dragons and snakes.

When it was closed in 1977, the building was padlocked and has remained vacant ever since. The summer opening would have been the first and only time the public could have seen this building before it is gutted and turned into the offices of a new hospital being erected by Bridgepoint.

For more information, check out the Don Jail’s website.

Hello, everyone! My name is Olga Andriyevska, and I write for Love in Toronto about interesting dating ideas. Currently, I am in a Professional Writing program at university, and hope to later end up in the publishing business.

Having lived in Toronto for 7years now, I spent most of these years living around the neighbourhood of Yonge and Eglinton. I have taken on the spirit of the business and entertainment district, which will be reflected in most of my articles. I also have a taste for the arts; I appreciate the performing arts just as much as galleries and exhibitions. Just like my friend and colleague, Stephanie Delfina, I am also a strong believer that a relationship should not be defined by the amount of money put into it. There are plenty of interesting and romantic places to have a date at in the city of Toronto that do not cost a fortune, and I am on a mission to find the best ones.

Since I am only 19 years of age, I am still exploring the works of dating. I believe that a good relationship constitutes of good communication, compromise, and proper advice from someone outside of the relationship.  I am afraid that might sound like a cliché, but that formula has worked great for me. An amazing relationship, however, on top of the above-said, also includes variety. Variety makes almost anything exciting. Although I have my own favourite places to go to and favourite things to do on a date, throwing in some new things into the mix once in a while makes a big difference. From my own experience and from the experience of many of my close friends, it can be rather hard to find new and exciting locations to visit on a date. That is why I believe my writing for Love in Toronto can make an important difference in the livelihood of someone’s relationship.

Also, I am currently working on a project with Stephanie Delfina. We are in the process of creating a pilot of our internet-based talk show, She Said She Said. The show is about anything that has to do with young people, like us, dating in the city of Toronto. Although it could be classified as an advice show, we are planning to make it light and humorous. So stand by until we launch it! In the meantime, enjoy our postings!

Bear in mind, I have no formal training, or overwhelmingly deep insight into just what makes the concept of a man and a woman cohabitating compatible, sustainable, or even feasible.

I have no interest in preaching some ‘holier-than-thou’ gospel about how phenomenal I am at communicating with members of the opposite sex.

To be perfectly honest, I have no suggestions from my proof-reading live-in girlfriend as far as how to tackle the responsibility of dishing out advice on a bi-weekly basis.

Yet, here I am.

So I’m going to take on my assignment the best way I know how—and this might come as a shock—I’m going to be honest.

Brutally,
painfully,
honest.

There’s couples out there cringing at the word right now—and, if my decade-and-a-bit of experience at blowing relationships is any indication, my lack of honesty could very well be the reason Denae became Iwona became Krista became Candace became Donna…etc, etc.

So, for my big debut article next week, I’m going to attempt to tackle the 800lb gorilla so many brave, brave men and women have tried to and failed—

–I’m going to try to be honest with you.

It’s a start, but bear with me—maybe by reading about the wrong way to handle being honest about a ‘guy’s night out,’ you’ll get some insight as to why so many of us make the mistake of lying in the first place.

There’s something in our heads that makes covering up a night of probably-harmless-pretend-debauchery seem like a good idea; the best of us can even smile when we lie to you.

I tried that one—and failed miserably–last Friday night (–as research for my upcoming article, of course.)

So give me a chance Toronto (–this line worked for me Saturday morning–) and I’ll prove to you that you can learn from my many, many mistakes.

Honestly yours,

Brody McVittie
www.brodymcvittie.com