South Bayview Bulldog Admin

Mass exodus at CTV as Bell takes over

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Clockwise from upper left, Ivan Fecan, Susanne Boyce, Paul Gossling, Dawn Fell, Paul Sparkes, Alon Marcovici

Five high-profile members of CTV ‘s management will follow chief executive Ivan Fecan (upper left) out the door as BCE gets ready to take over. They include programming guru Susanne Boyce (upper centre) according to an internal memo obtained by The Globe and Mail. Mr. Fecan announced last summer that he will be leaving the company once BCE’s $1.3-billion deal to buy CTVglobemedia closes in early April. The departing executives are chief financial officer John Gossling (upper right) executive vice-president of corporate affairs Paul Sparkes (lower centre) Ms. Boyce, president of creative, content and channels; executive vice-president of digital media Alon Marcovici (lower left) who was promoted to an executive role less than six months ago; and Dawn Fell (lower right) the executive vice-president of human resources and operations. Wendy Freeman remains as head of news and current events programming, a position she was promoted to in January; and Chris Gordon stays on as head of radio and will be handling “a significant new radio initiative” in the spring, possibly the launch of the long-rumoured TSN branded network of stations. A BCE import and the new chief operating officer of CTVglobemedia, Kevin Crull, made the announcement about the changes to his team in an e-mail on Tuesday.

Sport Swap moves up the street

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Sport Swap, the pre-owned sports goods store, will move up South Bayview from its location at 1440 (just north of Balliol) to 1541B, the premises just south of Starbucks. This would seem like a much better location for the established business. 1541B has been vacant since Sharon’s Collection moved two years ago.

KIA’s “One Epic Ride” our favorite

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There were many winners among this year’s Super Bowl commercials. But for sheer sweep of story-telling and non-stop surprises, KIA’s One Epic Ride gets our vote for best of game commercial breaks. Follow the Optima sedan through an adventure which is really too good for a mere car. See it on a special page at our associated blog Yonge and Roxborough.

Union gets notice re private trash collection

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The City has taken the first necessary step to privatize garbage collection. Mayor Ford said at a noon hour news conference that he has officially notified the Civic Employees’ Union that the City intends to recommend seeking competitive bids for curb-side pick up west of Yonge Street, to the Etobicoke border, plus privatize more of the litter vacuum operations and litter and recycling pick up in parks. The notice given today is required under labour legislation. More.

TD Canada Trust ups mortgage rates .25%

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TD Canada Trust has raised its residential mortgage rate by a quarter of a percent to 5.44%. The other banks are not likely to be far behind. This increase comes two days after a CMHC analyst said there was movement expected in mortgage rates in the first half of 2011.

60 Donegall sold conditionally in 1 day

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What is so hot (for real estate) as a day in February? Not much apparently as the renovation at 60 Donegall was sold over the weekend at the first open house. No price is disclosed before confirmation but as readers will recall (post below) 60 Donegall was being offered for $1, 398,000.

Mad Italian open again for lunch

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The Mad Italian at 1581 South Bayview is open again after a three week closure while its owners attended a Gelato conference in Italy. More appealing these days is the wonderful lunch menu and the aroma of Aldo’s Porchetta roasting in the kitchen. Worth a try.

EmmaZ closed, Lampe Berger next door

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With the closure of EmmaZ, 1697 South Bayview, at the beginning of the year, the Lampe Berger line of catalytic lamps has moved next door to Smokin’ Cigar. The stores are associated. Lampe Berger is a moderately popular product originally said to have some medicinal quality but it is now used simply as an air freshener. There is no indication about the status of the EmmaZ premises although there is a fair amount of merchandise and things remaining in the shop indicating perhaps that the lease has not yet expired.

South Bayview bus lines remain unchanged

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Cutbacks to certain local bus routes announced Friday will have no impact on the important South Bayview lines. These are the Bayview 11, which passes through South Bayview heading north from the Davisville station and south from Steeles Ave. As many riders will know, the No 11 goes into Sunnybrook Hospital as does the short turn Sunnybrook bus No. 11C. The rush hour service No. 28 to Bayview Ave at Belsize Dr. remains untouched. And the busy South Leaside lines, 88 and 88A, which find their way from St. Clair station to Thorncliffe Park, also remain untouched. The affected lines are 56 Leaside which will see service end at 10 pm each day Monday to Friday and at 7 pm Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. There will be no service west of Laird Drive to Eglinton Station Sunday or holiday daytime. The No. 74 Mount Pleasant service will end at 7 pm every day. And the No. 103 Mount Pleasant North service will end at 10 pm on Sundays and holidays.

1541B has been leased

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1541B South Bayview has a leased sign on the window. The premises has been vacant for nearly two years since Sharon’s Collection moved out. 1541B is between de la Mer snd the art shop just south of Starbucks.

FLASHBACK: Geothermal conversion 43 Bessborough Dr.

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geothermal 1 550
A home at 43 Bessborough Dr. is being converted to geothermal heating, a technique which uses the earth’s heat to heat and cool the building. It would seem to be a fairly rare project. The home is undergoing a renovation and with it, workmen are drilling down an unknown distance to tap the heat of the earth. As one worker at the site said, “This house is going to be completely disconnected from natural gas.” At the left, a bin containing mud from drilling is being evacuated. At right, shots of the drilling equipment.

geothermal 2 550

Geothermal heating relies on an energy exchange between the air within the building being heated and the ground. Below ten feet the earth’s temperature is fairly constant (generally between 50º-56°F). During the summer when the ambient temperature of the building exceeds that of the ground heat pumps are used to pump heat from the building into the transfer medium (typically water with small amounts of ethanol or glycol) and is subsequently pumped through narrow pipes into the ground so that the heat can be dissipated in the earth. When the ambient temperature falls below the ground temperature the process works in reverse. Heat pumps extract heat from the ground and use it to heat the building. Wikipedia

60 Donegall Dr. listed for $1,398,000

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We’ve kept tabs on 60 Donegall Dr. since it was a just little brick bungalow. See our many posts here. Sue Byford alerts us to an open house this weekend at which the little house that grew will be listed at $1,398,000. Worth a look.