We are reasonably confident that summer will eventually arrive in Toronto this year, and so we (Junction House) have partnered with Indie Alehouse to host a public and outdoor beer garden from June through to August, right in the Junction.
We are calling it The House Beer Garden because we both have "House" in our name and that's as clever as we get.
Here are the details:
There will be four editions of The House Beer Garden and each will host a different local food vendor. For the first one, we will be welcoming Chau Toronto and their modern Asian bites.
The timing of the first Beer Garden also happens to line up with the Annual Summer Solstice Festival in the Junction (that was deliberate). So Dundas Street West will be closed to cars and it's going to be a lot of fun.
No need to RSVP. Just show up at 2720 Dundas Street West, Junction. See you in two weeks.
What a weekend.
Almost 4,000 people came through the Junction House sales office for our neon popup gallery. At one point throughout the day on Saturday, there was an over 1 hour wait to get in. The team had to implement a viewing time limit in order to keep the line moving.
The event surpassed all of our expectations in terms of visitors and buzz. Many of the local businesses in the area also experienced a pop in foot traffic as a result.
The Downtown Yonge BIA and Neon Demon Studio (as well as many others) did an incredible job coordinating and curating the exhibit. And we are thrilled to have played a small role in bringing it to life.
What is clear to me after this weekend is that people really love neon (and, of course, Instagramming said neon) and that there's a market here in Toronto for a permanent museum. It's going to happen.
For those of you who missed the exhibit, there's no shortage of photos online. Check out #JunctionHouse and #NeonMuseumTO to get started. A big thank you to the entire team for making this happen.
For more information on our Junction House condominium project, click here.
I met Mark Garner, who is the COO and Executive Director of the Downtown Yonge BIA, about five years ago. We met because of our shared passion around Toronto's laneways. At the time, you weren't allowed to do what we now call laneway suites. Housing was not to be built on our rear streets. But thanks to champions like the Yonge BIA, Lanescape, the Laneway Project, a number of local Councillors, and many others, a lot has changed over the last five years.
As luck would have it, Mark and I reconnected at the beginning of this year because of another shared interest: neon. The Downtown Yonge BIA has been working for over five years to establish a permanent home for the neon signs and lights that are slowly (or perhaps quickly) disappearing from Toronto's streets. The goal is to found Neon Museum Toronto. And I am so impressed by their dedication to this cause. You should see what they have collected so far.
Given the obvious connection to Junction House, we decided we were overdue for another fun project. So today the team is excited to announce that -- in collaboration with both the Downtown Yonge BIA and Neon Demon Studio -- the Junction House Sales Gallery (at 2720 Dundas Street West) will be hosting a Neon Popup Gallery from April 12 to 14. blogTO has already covered the event, here.
It is open to the public. And entry is free. But it is coming to you for one weekend only. So get your camera ready and come by between 11AM - 9PM.