Project about Little Jamaica in Toronto wins heritage award

TORONTO:

A project led by Jamaican-Canadian award-winning placemaker Jay Pitter about Toronto’s cultural district, Little Jamaica, has won a Heritage Toronto award which recognises extraordinary contributions to the city’s heritage.

The Public History Award was presented to ‘A Big Vision for Little Jamaica: Black Cultural History & Mapping Process’, for their comprehensive study of the rich heritage of the Little Jamaica neighbourhood, demonstrating the important connection between cultural practices and the built environment.

As the City of Toronto’s consultant, Jay Pitter Placemaking is leading the development of the Little Jamaica Cultural Plan.

It was one of the five winners named from 46 nominees in three categories: public history, book, and built heritage. Each category was independently judged by a panel of experts. In addition, a Peoples’ Choice Award was announced, selected by Heritage Toronto supporters and event attendees from among the public history nominees.

“At the heart of this celebration is the recognition that our city’s heritage is a dynamic collection of stories waiting to be discovered, celebrated, and passed on to the next generation. Each nominee, in their own way, embodies the spirit of Toronto’s heritage and reminds us of the importance of exploring our past while looking to the future,” said Heritage Toronto in a press release.

HERCULEAN TASK

The project implements a design for a black cultural history and mapping process, in association with the creation of a Cultural District of Little Jamaica.

“Given that the area referred to as Little Jamaica has, for decades, been a key site of arrival for Caribbean communities, a key retail corridor populated by a large number of culturally responsive businesses serving Caribbean communities, a key global site of reggae music production, a key site of Caribbean cultural celebrations such as Junior Carnival Parade and Jamaica Day, and a key site of informal gatherings and intangible cultural heritage, it is clear that it should be formally recognised as a cultural district,” notes the study.

The work on black cultural heritage history-collection and mapping is especially important because it models a new approach centring community knowledge, capacity-building and equity. The approach also emphasises equitable community engagement, and the project team did not only engage the community but also honoured community contributions.“My bi-national practice was contracted by the City of Toronto to develop the proposal for the city’s first-ever cultural district programme and to develop The Little Jamaica Cultural District Plan. The Little Jamaica Cultural District plan is a comprehensive plan for community members of all identities. It addresses eight core components to guide the area’s future development: Mobility, Businesses and Collective Prosperity, Indigeneity, Cultural Heritage and Collective Cultural Imprint, Amenities, Social Services, Housing and Homeplace, and Community Knowledge,” says Pitter.

She says the Heritage Toronto Award specifically acknowledges her approach to disrupting the erasure of the black cultural heritage. This unprecedented approach included the engagement of Black community members who helped to document the history of Jamaican, Caribbean and broader Black communities in the Little Jamaica area.

“In addition to employing conventional cultural planning mapping and academic research, I included storytelling circles, hands-on archival research, digitised personal artifacts from a local black elder, business registration searches, one-on-one interviews, lost spaces mapping and more. This resulted in developing a catalogue of 250-plus personal artifacts and references clearly showing black people’s important presence and cultural contributions dating back an entire century – approximately 50 years before the term Little Jamaica was popularly used.

“We didn’t simply map businesses, which tends to be centralised when talking about Little Jamaica, we also mapped local leadership and advocacy movements, arts and culture, and informal and sacred sites for black community members. Equally important, we placed these stories, memories and personal artifacts on a map with 100 pinpoints, linking this

cultural heritage to the physical built environment , which is both rare and unprecedented. We made the history tangible and visible within the context of urban planning and development.”

CULTURAL DISTRICT PLAN

Community leaders and activists have called upon the city to formally recognise the Eglinton West corridor, commonly known as ‘Little Jamaica’ or ‘Eglinton’ for its cultural heritage significance and take action in response to a number of challenges along this corridor including significant closures of black-owned businesses over the past few years, the impacts to businesses from construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, and rising commercial and residential rents.

In September 2020, City Council adopted two separate motions at its meetings that directed staff to develop economic measures to help existing businesses experiencing challenges and to develop a Cultural District Plan, using an equity lens that recognises the cultural heritage of the area.

Pitter is an award-winning placemaker whose practice mitigates growing divides in cities across North America. She spearheads institutional city-building projects specialising in public space design and policy, forgotten densities, mobility equity, gender-responsive design, inclusive public engagement, and healing fraught sites.

Her multidisciplinary approach, located at the nexus of urban design and social equity, translates community insights and aspirations into the built environment. She also makes significant contributions to urbanism theory and discourse.

Pitter has developed an equitable planning certificate course with the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Architecture and taught a graduate level urban planning course at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), among others.

The 48th annual Heritage Toronto Awards ceremony,, held on October 30 brought together leaders, innovators and emerging professionals from across cultural, development, and policymaking sectors to celebrate outstanding achievements in Toronto’s heritage. It is also Heritage Toronto’s major fundraiser of the year, raising monies in support of its public programming.