New Royal Bank Location Now Open

RBC has moved from its previous location in the West Hill Plaza to its new home in the extensively refurbished former Pizza Hut building at Kingston Road and Lawrence.



RBC joins Canada's other major banks in opening significantly larger locations in the West Hill area, making West Hill the centre for banking in south east Scarborough. The new RBC branch is now double its former size, offering state of the art banking services to West Hill residents.

Of Canada's major banks, only Scotia Bank has decided not to upgrade its branch in West Hill preferring its coveted location at Morningside and Kingston Rd. over enhanced facilities.



The loss of RBC presents a challenge to the small West Hill Plaza who have also recently lost The Doctors Office, a drug store and The Source, all of which have relocated to the new Morningside Crossing Shopping Centre which opened last year.

Adventures In Eating In West Hill

Some things are incongruous.



As unbelievable and incongruous as it may seem, no one with the rank of Colonel is working at our local KFC and not one of the chickens came from Kentucky.



Not one employee at Taco Bell was from Mexico. And on the day we visited, not one employee had even vacationed there. Believe It Or Not!



Shoeless Joe's Restaurant has a policy requiring all customers to wear shoes. And shirts.



And when Licks finally got around to opening their latest store in West Hill, I wouldn't advise licking any of their employees. Boy do they get mad!



But most incongruous of them all, the Swiss Chalet Restaurant, not only has no Swiss employees, sells no Swiss Cheese, lamb or beer, but none of their clocks were made in Switzerland, instead they were all made by GE--in China.

Wind Anemometer Platform Now In Place

It is ugly and it sits immediately off the shoreline of the Scarborough Bluffs.

Where it will reside for the next two years.

Despite strong opposition from a significant and vocal majority of Guildwood Residents.

It s a wind anemometer, and if the wind blows significantly, it is the forerunner of a line of Wind Turbines destined to run from the Leslie Street spit all along the Scarborough shoreline.

Toronto Hydro also claims that anemometers pose no health threats. Guildwood’s concerns were addressed in the studies done for the Ministry of Natural Resources. If there were any side effects the project would have been declined.

Opponents however, believe Toronto Hydro is pursuing a “vanity project.”

Guild opponents to the plan state they don’t want more money to be spent on the anemometer when they totally reject turbines in Lake Ontario,.

Toronto Hydro reminds Guildwood the device is only for wind energy research and there’s no current plan to propose a wind farm. Somewhat disingenuously claiming that they are not proposing to build windmills, simply collecting data.

The wind data will be collected for two years, then other factors will be studied, such as costs for construction and electricity grid connections, before a decision will be made concering the construction of the Wind Farm project.

The platform is located 1.2 kilometres off the bluffs and is visible all along the Guild shoreline. If wind results and other factors prove satisfactory, the 60-turbine wind farm could stretch from Ajax to the Leslie Street Spit.

Residents, however, will continue to oppose the project with more protests and educational campaigns.

The Oldest Home In West Hill Is The Oldest In Scarborough

It lies on the grounds of the Guild, not far from the top of the Scarborough Bluffs.

It is the first European dwelling in the area and the oldest man made dwelling in all of Scarborough that still stands. When it was built George Washington was still President of the United States, Napoleon had just become engaged to Josephine and a 24 year old Beethoven was just debuting as pianist in Vienna.

Click on the picture above to learn more about this unique Ousterhout Log Cabin built in 1795. Then go visit it yourself to touch a genuine piece of history.

Slow News Day

It's been quiet around here for several months.

Although there has been no let up in the News, events and activities in the West Hill area.

Sadly, there is a reason for this. The prime mover behind this site has been Barry Fraser, who was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer in February of this year. As the year has progressed, so to has his treatment with all its related side effects. This has cut with increasing severity into the time and energy he has available to devote to this site.

At no time, however, has it cut into his enthusiasm for this work and this community.

Currently, Barry is feeling somewhat better and has some additional time at his disposal so you may see additional posts creeping onto this site.

Thanks for your understanding.