Bloordale Beach

Guerilla art installation and community hub

Bloordale Beach

Type| Informally created
Location| Brockton High School grounds
Coordinates| 43°39′29″N 79°26′17″W﻿ / ﻿43.658129°N 79.437958°W﻿ / 43.658129; -79.437958

Bloordale Beach was an informal community hub in the west end of Toronto,[1][2] and since it was landlocked, was once described as "Toronto's only waterless beach".[3]

Bloordale Beach was located north of the Dufferin Mall between Croatia Street and Brock Crescent, on a site that previously used to be Brockton High School.[3] It covered 118,400 square-feet.[3] The beach was located on property owned by the Toronto District School Board.[3][4]

The beach closed in 2021 to make way for the new Bloor Collegiate Institute.[5]

## Usage

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Bloordale Beach opened 25 May 2020.[6][5]

Public facilities included a dog gymnasium (officially called the Barkour Area),[7] a "sea turtle nesting area,"[7] Bloordale Lagoon (essentially a large puddle that would form after heavy rainfall),[3] a community garden,[4] and occasional temporary art installations.[3]

Bloordale Beach was used as a community hub and a throughway to cut across the space.[7][4]

Toronto garage punk psych rock band Wine Lips recorded a their music video Live At Bloordale Beach at the beach.[8] It was also the set for an improv performance by Martin Helmut Reis that was filmed and debuted at the 2020 Improvisation Festival[9] and Martin Reis' performance art American Lifeguard.[10]

The beach finally closed on Sept 23, 2021. The lot is currently under construction to be the new location of Bloor CI.

## Critical reception

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Bloordale Beach was described in The Toronto Star as Toronto's "newest hot summer destination"[1] and was ranked as the 9th best beach in Toronto on Tripadvisor.[11][notes 1]

## In popular culture

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Bloordale Beach was featured in the short documentary Bloordale Beach by Beth Warrian where it was described as a vision for reclaiming public space.[12][2]

There have been 5 songs written about the beach. The beach was the subject of the 2021 song "Bloordale Beach" by garage punk-pop band Pop Plug,[13] and the 2021 song also called "Bloordale Beach" by Catjam.[14] Pete Moss also made a song called “Bloordale Beach.” There is a song called “Bloordale Beach, by Eamon McGrath. Another Bloordale Beach song is coming soon.

AUS!Funkt, Canadian art-rock band, paid homage to the beach in the video for their song "Set Yourself Free".[15]

## Footnotes

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1. ^ Toronto has 11 public beaches

## References

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1. ^ a b Micallef, Shawn (2020-08-09). "Watch for sharks: Toronto's newest beach at Bloor and Dufferin has everything — except water". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
2. ^ a b Ulrich, Tania (December 14, 2021). "Thought-provoking 'Bloordale Beach' short doc opens possibilities for city building". Ryerson University. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
3. ^ a b c d e f Mok, Tanya (18 July 2020). "Bloordale Beach is Toronto's only beach without a body of water attached". www.blogto.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
4. ^ a b c DeClerq, Katherine (2021-07-16). "Organizers of community garden in Toronto west-end hope to postpone its destruction until after harvest". Toronto. Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
5. ^ a b Xavier-Carter, Breanna (2021-09-20). "Bloordale Beach in Toronto is closing and it's being replaced by a new high school". www.blogto.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
6. ^ Creek, Taddle (28 November 2020). "Muscled Beach - Taddle Creek". Retrieved 2021-11-30.
7. ^ a b c Ariel (Oct 31, 2020). "Can a waterless beach survive the pandemic?". news.unculture.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
8. ^ Miladinović, Djordje (2022-01-09). "Wine Lips Released Live At Bloordale Beach". Thoughts Words Action. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
9. ^ Tino (2020-06-20), Monsieur Hulot's Zoomtime, retrieved 2022-01-17
10. ^ Tino (2021-09-05), American Lifeguard - Martin Reis, retrieved 2022-01-17
11. ^ Collum, Tara (2021-06-13). "CAN'T WAIT TO ESCAPE 'CITY' AFTER PANDEMIC, TO GET BACK 'UP NORTH'". Muskoka Today. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
12. ^ "Bloordale Beach: A Film by Beth Warrian". Hillside Festival. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
13. ^ BLOORDALE BEACH, retrieved 2021-11-30
14. ^ CATJAM - Bloordale Beach, retrieved 2021-11-30
15. ^ "AUS!Funkt Want You to "Set yourself free" with the Release of their Latest Single | Cashbox Canada". cashboxcanada.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-08.

## External links

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* Tripadvisor - Bloordale Beach