More than 1,500 people from across Scarborough, Toronto and Canada have now signed the “Fix the Broken Promises at Historic Guild Park & Gardens” petition. It calls on the City of Toronto to ensure all visitors at this popular public site can enjoy an on-site restaurant plus the other community benefits long promised by municipal officials.

Thanks to everyone who’s taken time to learn about what’s happening at Guild Park, located at 201 Guildwood Pkwy. in east Toronto, atop the popular Scarborough Bluffs.

 Support for the petition is both local and global.

Three-quarters of all petition supporters are from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with:

• 44% from Scarborough,
• 20% from the rest of the City of Toronto, and
• 11% from elsewhere in the GTA.

The other 25% of supporters are from:

• the rest of Ontario,
• eight other provinces,
• the U.S., and
• 11 other countries worldwide.

Reaching so many supporters comes less than a week since the award-winning volunteer group, Friends of Guild Park, launched its petition on-line.

This milestone in petition support comes exactly seven years after the official ground-breaking for the restoration of the Guild Inn. This notable building is where The Guild of All Arts, Canada’s first artists’ community, began in 1932.

On Nov. 26, 2015, Toronto Mayor John Tory, local City Councillor Paul Ainslie and executives from the private business selected to operate the restored Guild Inn, committed millions of private and public dollars to the project. The photo from that day at Guild Park shows, from left, Councillor Ainslie and Mayor Tory with the two business executives.

Officials promised this revamped building, to be named Guild Inn Estate, would serve both the public and private customers.

Signed agreements outlined how the public would be welcome to enjoy the premises and its restaurant. In exchange for this ongoing public use, Toronto city councillors designated much of the facility exempt from municipal taxes

Today, as promised, the original Guild Inn has been beautifully renovated, modernized and expanded. However, outside the recently-restored building are signs that read “Private Property” that keep the public away.

Inside, there’s no restaurant, no community meeting space and no public access, not even to see the displays of public art from the City of Toronto’s own collection.

All Toronto taxpayers and the public are now shut out of the restored Guild Inn. None of the promised benefits are available. Meanwhile, the facility’s private operator continues to benefit from the facility’s tax-favoured designation and can rent the entire premises for commercial events.

This is unfair and wrong.

This is why Friends of Guild Park launched this petition calling on the City of Toronto to fix the broken promises at Guild Park.

Thanks to everyone who’s already signed. Feel free to share this petition with people you know so this issues keeps gaining support. For those reading about this issue for the first time, adding your name will help a lot. The more supporters for this petition, the more attention this issue – and Guild Park – gains at Toronto City Hall.

Note: This on-line service automatically asks participants for an optional donation to distribute this petition. This isn't required. Friends of Guild Park doesn't receive any proceeds from such donations.