Bloordale Beach is an oasis in Toronto’s west end. It opened in May 2020, at the height of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, and has served the community as a great place for social distancing in the outdoors, a set for films and photoshoots, a place to relax and get a fabulous tan, the site of a gorgeous community garden, and in the winter it was a great spot for cross-country skiing and building snowmen, too. 

About the Beach Land

The beach was created on the property of the Toronto District School Board. Prior to the beach, there had been a school on the property, originally Brockton High School then Ursula Franklin Academy, though the building hadn’t operated as a school since the early 2000s. Bloordale Beach is temporary, as it’s the site of a brand new high school. Construction might begin in fall 2021. 

The High School 

The teens who had been attending the school next to the beach, Bloor Collegiate Institute, have been sent to Central Technical School at Bloor and Bathurst for the next two years while their new school is being built. Bloor CI has already been emptied and will be demolished. The TDSB has said the new school, to be built on Bloordale Beach, will be complete in time for the start of the Sept 2023 school year. 

A Bit About Bloor Collegiate Institute

The school first opened as Davenport High School in the year 1920 and was located on the top floor of Jesse Ketchum School, at Bay and Davenport. It was later renamed Bloor High School and in 1925 renamed Bloor CI. They laid the first cornerstone for the building in its current location at Bloor and Dufferin in 1924 and it opened in 1925, with various renovations completed and additions built to expand the school throughout the successive 40 years. 

What/Who is Bloor?

Bloor Street is a major street that’s approximately 25 kilometres in length, running east-west, cutting across Toronto. It’s named after Joseph Bloor. He was an innkeeper, brewmaster, and landowner who contributed to Yorkville’s development. He’s pictured with wild eyes and something like a grimace. He died in 1862. 

Why Rename the School? 

Bloordale Beach should be commemorated as it has served as an important space over the past months. The new name gives an indication as to where this school is located, as the school is in the Bloordale neighbourhood, on the site of a beach. The current name “Bloor CI” merely suggests the school is somewhere along a 25km stretch of road. And anyhow, the “Bloor” part of the school name remains in the new proposed name: Bloordale Beach CI.