HISTORY OF THURLESTONE CO-OPERATIVE
Thurlestone is the name of a village near a bay in Devon, England, south east of Plymouth. The village is surrounded by bluffs and overlooks the bay, in which there is a large island called the Thurle Stone. The village is supposedly very old; during Roman times it was populated by Celts and was one area of present day Britain that the Romans never controlled. It was thought that Thurlestone was a place where families came together to discuss matters of mutual concern, like how to fight off the Romans. Because of the connection with the bluffs and the co-operation among peoples, the name Thurlestone was chosen for Scarborough’s first housing co-operative.
Thurlestone also had a connection with Bermuda. The house in which co-founder Chris Smith grew up was called Thurlestone, after the village in Devon. It is through this similarity that he found out about the original village and suggested the name.
It is also interesting the Peter Howland, one of Thurlestone’s original residents and members, visited Bermuda on many occasions during the war when he was in the merchant marine. When he found out that Chris was from Bermuda, he gave Chris a print that he had purchased on one of his visits to Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda. Unfortunately, Peter died in 1978. Later that year, at the official opening of Thurlestone Co-op, the members planted a Crimson King maple tree in front of building #22 and Chris presented the print to the co-op in Peter’s memory. The house in the picture, called Thurlestone, is located on the hill just behind the stern of the ship.
How did Thurlestone Co-op get started ?
The buildings that comprise Thurlestone were constructed in the early fifties during the post-war building boom and were typical of buildings of the period. They were all built at the same time and were part of a large development that spread from Fishleigh Drive to Glen Everest Ave. Until 1975, these buildings were operated as typical rental accommodation. During the seventies, as in many buildings, the maintenance and service to tenants deteriorated, as did the relationship between the landlord and the tenants. This was partially due to the lack of rental accommodation and rent control legislation.
During the early seventies, construction of rental accommodation in Toronto virtually ceased and the housing situation was becoming critical, particularly for moderate-income families. A few people had been promoting the concept of non-profit housing co-ops for many years, and by 1973, legislation was passed by the federal government to provide beneficial financing for this housing form.
Thurlestone was conceived by three people working for the City of Toronto on the creation of the St. Lawrence neighborhood. They were Chris Smith, an experienced co-op sector worker who was co-coordinating the planning and initial development of St. Lawrence, and Joan Campbell, Administrative Assistant for the St. Lawrence Project office, and Earl Millen, who was working on a study of social services needed for St. Lawrence. With a few co-ops already started in Toronto and one in East York, the aim of the Thurlestone initiators was to attempt to start a co-operative in Scarborough.
Chris Smith and his associates, as well as Dave Robertson, Ron Greenlaw, and Paul Stapley, a former resident of a co-op in Vancouver, and Joanne Omori incorporated Thurlestone on December 1st, 1975. The first officers were Chris Smith as the President, Earl Miller as the Secretary, and Dave Robertson as Treasurer.
Various properties were investigated, especially along Kingston Road in Ward 33 of Scarborough. Phil Smith, a staff person responsible for acquiring properties for City Non-Profit Homes Corporation, brought the Fishleigh property to the attention of the group. The incorporators, with assistance from John Harstone and Bob Van Alstyne, negotiated an agreement to purchase, they arranged for federal financing, and they purchased the property on May 31st, 1976. Bob Van Alstyne was subsequently hired as manager to look after the operation of the buildings and to carry out rehabilitation of the project.
Although the project had technically become a co-op, it remained a rental building for some time. The tenants were advised that their buildings had been purchased by a new owner but had very little idea as to what a co-op was. Teaching the tenants to take over the democratic control of the project was carried out over the next year and a half. The tenants were given the choice of applying for membership in the co-op and remaining as tenants, or of moving out of the project. Many waited to see what the co-op was all about before making a decision. There was little progress in 1976, other than the preliminary work on rehabilitation and some educational work with tenants, carried out by Jean Stevenson.
Things really started happening by early 1977. Joan Campbell had made great strides in setting up a membership committee. Under the chairmanship of Toni Mulgrew, this committee was now assisting in the education of the residents and filling vacant units.
Andrew Taylor was hired to complete renovations, and work on the buildings started in earnest. During the summer, Shirley Lahoda was hired as coordinator to look after the operation of the co-op.
On February 24th, 1977, Jim Mulgrew and Kriena Deurloo became the first resident directors of the co-op, replacing Dave Robertson and Joanne Omori. Three months later, on May 30th, Larry Squire replaced Mike Stapley and Jim assumed the responsibilities of Treasurer. In August, residents gained control of the board when Louise Jackson replaced Ron Greenlaw. The board now only had three non-resident directors: Earl Miller, Joan Campbell, and Chris Smith.
At the second annual meeting on January 17th, 1978, Fran Jacobs, Metter Svensma and Pat Farell were elected and a complete resident board was in operation with the following officers: Jim Mulgrew, President; Louise Jackson, Secretary; and Fran Jacobs, Treasurer. Thus Thurlestone became a totally independent, resident-controlled co-op. Work on buildings was completed in the spring of 1978. Shortly thereafter, Shirley Lahoda resigned as coordinator and was succeeded by Penelope Winter. On September 23rd, 1978, Thurlestone had its official opening.
Several members of Thurlestone became active in the co-op sector and in their community. Kriena Deurloo was elected as Executive of the Cliffside Resident Association. The Mulgreens and Louise Jackson became involved in the development of Dentonia Park Co-operative. Larry Squire became active in the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto, eventually becoming vice president. (Author Unknown)