New Condo Families Will Want Amenities Just Like This!
By Lucas on May 29, 2015
The Children’s Discovery Centre, the GTA’s first museum for children aged 6-years and younger, has opened thanks to CEO and Founder Jeanhy Shim and her great team of curators and early childhood development professionals.
The museum is located at 45 Strachan Avenue in the Garrison Point neighbourhood, occupying its temporary 20,000 square foot location, which is on loan from Diamondcorp and BUILD Toronto. “This passion project started only 18 months ago as a grassroots initiative and today with the support of other parents, friends, family and sponsors, we’ve brought this pilot project to life,” says Shim.
Jeanhy Shim
So, what is a museum for children? Shim describes it as a “mash-up” of the ROM, the Ontario Science Centre, and the AGO, where kids can explore, learn, get messy, and put their imaginations to work. The museum is separated into 10 discovery zones. For example, the Mini City zone features a backdrop of Toronto’s skyline with bikes and trikes and wagons to get the kids active, and there’s even a construction zone with toy building machines, where we’ll most likely discover the next great construction worker or condo developer.
Mini City
Another zone is Eat Street, where children will discover a fully functioning demo kitchen, as well as a child-size mini kitchen, a mini grocery store, and a variety of “foodie games.” All of the zones aim to introduce the children to different professional fields and skillsets that will undoubtedly come in handy in the future.
“This is not only a place for our youngest children to explore and play, but it will facilitate connections between parents, grandparents, nannies, daycare workers, teachers and visitors to our City,” explains Shim, knowing full well what it’s like raising a child in the city with a young daughter of her own.
Eat Street
It is a fact that the young adults of today are starting to raise families in condos. According to Stats Canada, the number of children of 4 years and younger increased in Toronto’s west end by 55% between 2006 and 2011. Over the next five to 10 years, it is expected that there will be 6,000 more babies born in the same area. These families and future families are going to want amenities that cater to everyone in their household, and the Children’s Discovery Centre will be one of them.
Just look at Diamondcorp’s work in the Garrison Point neighbourhood. The first phase of the Garrison Point master-plan features two towers of 29 and 35 storeys, with a total of 684 units. In phase 2, there will be three towers standing 24, 33, and 39 storeys tall for a total of 982 units. There will also be two to three levels of commercial and retail space. Half of the entire site will feature a four-acre park designed by Claude Cormier + Associés.
Garrison Point
In total, there will be 1,666 new condo units in the Garrison Point neighbourhood, and clearly, Diamondcorp recognizes that many of these buyers will be young couples who want to start families and stay in the neighbourhood, and there will also be families with young children who decide to live in the master-planned condo community.
The Children’s Discovery Centre will be open daily (even on holidays) from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm until September 30, 2015. For more info, visit www.childrensdiscoverycentre.com.
