The South Bayview Bulldog

It is an especially curious feeling when you get just a few feet into Carnvarco Road off of busy Laird Drive. You know it’s Leaside and perfectly safe, but the surroundings seem somehow creepy. There can be no doubt that this forlorn corner of the Leaside Business Park is merely marking time until it is redeveloped like so much of the property east of Laird. Because its a dead end, there is no through traffic. It is a laneway-like street that time seems to have forgotten. The 1940s Quonset hut and similar wartime remnants are scattered around. Large sinister courtyards extend to the north. One can only imagine the activities beyond those ancient doors. But, starting at the far end with Rosedale Landscaping Company and counting off Otto’s Masonry, Wilkin’s Chimney Repair (since 1977) Good Bones Antiques and Kayak Sport Canada, they are all worthy businesses. It is a revelation to peek through the thickly grown-over metal fencing to see huge stacks of firewood and 1950s wrecker cars. Some just sit out on the street. There’s no traffic. All of this was the preserve of the once mighty Canada Varnish Company (Canvarco) now long gone. It is said that the land on the east side has recently been sold and may yet emerge as more retail development. Some say a grocery store is the works. Hard to imagine considering the overflowing bounty of food stores in South Bayview. Still, if you hold to the view that Loblaws on Redway Road was one of the more serious business mistakes made in Leaside, you can begin to see how that firm might want to be back on the street, so to speak. The property on Redway is well suited in the short term to parking TTC buses. All of this speculation out of the way, one thing is certain. It’s an education to venture down Canvarco Road. Try it.