Condo Living

September 9, 2024 Published by Toronto and Area Chapter - By James Russell

Condo Profile: Skygarden - MTCC–541

From the Summer 2024 issue of CCI Toronto Condovoice Magazine.

Skygarden

Where young and old bloom

When Skygarden was built in 1979, on what was once a farmer’s field, the condominium movement was new, almost revolutionary. “Back then, condominiums were a hard sell,” says Patricia Sinclair, the Board’s President and one of Skygarden’s original owners.

In the golden 70s, an era when a walk through Yorkville would likely find you bumping into Canadian luminaries such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, or Margaret Atwood, and in Ottawa, our young Prime Minister zipped through the streets in his spiffy, two-seater sports car, we Canadians had become accustomed to living in singlefamily homes and rental apartments. In fact, the condominium movement was so new back then that Skygarden’s developer held wine and cheese and themed parties in the building, hoping to spur sales. The developer even created slick advertising posters with the image of a beautiful enchantress holding a red rose. At the top of the poster were words that claimed, “It doesn’t take a wizard to realize that if you wait much longer, you will miss out on one of the finest residences in all of Toronto.” Although the developer couldn’t have predicted the accuracy of that hyperbole, he was correct. From its very beginnings to the present, Skygarden is, “one of the finest residences in all of Toronto.” 

When Skygarden hit the market, two-bedroom, two-bath units went for seventy-seven thousand dollars, shockingly inexpensive compared to today’s prices, but we should remember that back then minimum wage was a paltry three dollars per hour and eggs cost about a dollar a dozen.

Skygarden’s majestic twenty-three-floor tower sits at the intersection of Warden and Finch which downtown Torontonians back in the late 1970s really did consider a ‘sky-high’ location. The builder conceived Skygarden as an adults-only building, but an Ontario government ruling in 1988 held that adult-only designations contravened the Human Rights Code as it discriminated on the basis of family status. Visitors and residents passing through Skygarden’s front door are now greeted by a wall plaque that proudly proclaims, “We are a friendly building - children are welcome.”

Located east of Victoria Park, south of McNicoll, west of Kennedy, and north of Huntingwood, the planned community of L’Amoreaux was once home to a group from the indigenous Wyandot Nation. In the late 1700s, Lot 33, Concession 4, on which Skygarden sits, was purchased by farmers Josue L’Amoreaux and his sons, a French Huguenot Loyalist family, thus the area, as well as the adjacent high school, inherited the L’Amoreaux family’s name.

Skygarden’s gleaming physique incorporates two-hundred and sixty-nine units, plus a suite for their live-in superintendent. Located at 2350 Bridletown Circle, Skygarden’s one and two-bedroom suites are huge by today’s standards and include magnificent solariums. The amenities Skygarden shares with her sister building include indoor and outdoor pools, a billiards room, two gyms, party room, library, and two squash courts, one of which has been converted into a golf driving range for the ‘big boppers’ living in the complex. Their grounds boast two outdoor tennis courts, two barbeque areas, lushly landscaped grounds, a private, oasis-like parkette, and the convenience of a large shopping mall across the street.

Yvette Pereira, a member of Skygarden’s very active, eight-strong Social Committee says what she loves about Skygarden’s residents is their, “Spirit of unity and harmony.” Patricia attributes much of that ‘spirit’ to the developer’s ‘grand opening’ themed parties, “we’ve always been a very social building.” Skygarden’s Canada Day Celebrations, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Valentines, Autumn Festival, and Diwali are the standard condominium fare but Skygarden’s Social Committee goes beyond the ordinary with such events as their ‘Out of Africa’ Tea Parties and their annual Easter time ‘Spring-Tastic’ event where residents, young and old, are encouraged to don festive bonnets and hats in the hope of garnering not only accolades from their neighbours, but prizes. Victor Parat Parag, Skygarden’s, Recreation Coordinator who sets up tables and chairs for events as well as maintaining their swimming pools, says of Skygarden’s residents, “I’m impressed. They’re very active.”

One of this year’s Scarborough Walk of Fame Inductees is Skygarden resident Marge Middleton who won the prestigious title for her selfless commitment to her community. When asked why she moved to Skygarden four years ago Marge says, “It’s the people - so kind - so good.” Another Skygarden resident, Sylvia Pusey, a retired teacher with forty-five years in the classroom, loves Skygarden’s “sense of community,” then adds, “Coming from living in a five-bedroom house she loves that the Board, management and staff focus on maintenance and “making things work. I don’t worry about plumbing and such things.”

Key to Skygarden’s success is their five-member Board, headed by Patricia for the past year of her three year term, although this is not her first stint on Skygarden’s Board as she also served as their Treasurer or Vice President, from 2004 to 2010. A resident of Skygarden for the past fortyfour years, Patricia is also one of Skygarden’s two voting representatives (plus one alternate) on the Shared Facilities Committee. The remainder of Skygarden’s Board is made up of Betty Ng, Secretary; Rahim Dhanani, Treasurer, and Directors William Cannaway and Tamar Mamourian.

Because of the building’s mostly senior demographic, Patricia says residents prefer in-person communication although email and hardcopy noticeboard postings are also used extensively. Additionally, the Board organises Town Halls to help owners understand the complexities of condominium insurance, law, and other matters related to condominium living.

Vital to Skygarden’s success as a vibrant, well-managed community is not only the fiscal excellence and skillful leadership provided by their Board, but ‘NORC’. The acronym stands for, ‘A Naturally Occurring Retirement Community’, essentially, any apartment, co-op, and condominium in which the demographic is mostly made up of seniors - as is Skygarden’s population. Begun in 2015 by the University Health Network, NORC’s Ambassadors work to help seniors ‘age in place’ rather than spending their remaining years in a nursing home, end-of-life care, or assisted-living facility.

According to NORC’s website, their mission of, “Seniors Empowering Seniors is created with one goal in mind - to help older adults form mutual support groups to help each other age in place. “ NORC has succeeded by empowering teams of resident Ambassadors who are provided with training in facilitation, communication, and community-building. NORC connects the Ambassadors with local health and social service agencies, provides each NORC group of Ambassadors with a one-thousand dollar micro-grant then introduces the Ambassadors to the large NORC community. Skygarden is one of the first buildings to welcome the NORC program, which now boasts more than two-hundred locations.

Barbara Chu and Yvette Pereira are two of NORC’s eight Ambassadors at Skygarden. Both women are enthusiastic about the NORC program, which began at Skygarden in 2022. “We want people to be connected,” Says Barbara, who moved to Skygarden in 2016, partially because of the large units but more importantly, “We feel safe here and it’s a nice community.”

NORC Ambassadors, who meet once a month with a team from the University Health Network, organize a myriad of programs such as Karaoke Night, Book Club Meetings, bingo, exercise classes, technology help clinics, arts and craft shows of resident’s work, natural health talks, trivia, and movie nights. NORC’s Ambassadors also facilitate visits by community paramedics, mobile hygienists, and hairdressers. Most recently, Skygarden’s NORC Ambassadors formed a team of ‘Handy Persons’ - six residents who help seniors with light maintenance tasks such as changing hard-to-reach lightbulbs.

Partnering perfectly with the Board is Skygarden’s staff and management team led by Christine Simeonakis-Martel, who only took over the job of Skygarden’s Senior Condominium Manager a few months ago. “I love it here. Very warm and welcoming,” says Christine. 

Skygarden’s loyal and ever-vigilant cleaning, concierge, and security staff are committed to maintaining the aesthetic, physical excellence, and personal safety that Skygarden’s residents have come to expect. Staff like their longserving Security Supervisor, Surinderpal who says of Skygarden, “I like the people (residents) and the staff is great.” Surinderpal’s gatehouse is decorated with letters and cards addressed to him from residents, one of which reads, “Thank you for your hard work maintaining our security.”

Of course, Skygarden was built long before the age of tri-sorters, still, Skygarden’s residents, ever mindful of Skygarden’s environmental impact, reliably journey to the ground-floor recycling room to deposit their organic, hazardous, garbage, and recyclables items into the appropriate bins.

Having recently completed repaving the driveways and concrete repairs, the Board’s future projects include the replacement of their backup generator and the refurbishment of the building’s quadragenarian façade.

According to Marc Freedman, CEO of encore.org, a nonprofit group dedicated to uniting the generations, “Mixed-age interactions make seniors feel more purposeful, and young people benefit from their elder’s guidance and problem-solving skills. They fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.”

Skygarden’s transition from an ‘adults only’ building decades ago and NORC’s program of helping seniors ‘age in place’, has allowed Skygarden’s residents to experience the benefits of those ‘mixed-age interactions’, a byproduct of what sociologist’s call, ‘intergenerational living’. Whatever you call it, the board, management, and the residents of Skygarden - young and old - have ‘fit together’ to create a beautiful community in which to live and grow.

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James Russell, Newsletters et Cetera