by Ray Dick

photo: national defence

The new Denison Armoury at CFB Downsview is a two-year-old $40 million structure housing Land Forces Central Area and the support group for reserve and cadet units in the Toronto area.

The Downsview Lands, a 600-acre parcel of land in the heart of Toronto that once bustled with activity in supplying the manpower and implements for war and peace, is now changing dramatically as work is well underway in the development of Canada’s first self-supporting national urban park.

This is part of the high ground that in early days before industrialization,

expansion and the demands of war provided a perfect view of the Toronto harbour. Indian tribes roamed the area, settlers tilled the land and in times of crisis the government recognized the strategic advantage in protecting the area, first with an RCAF station and later with Canadian Forces Base Toronto (Downsview).

Here thousands of workers assembled Tiger Moths, then later switched to the famous and speedy wood-constructed Mosquito bombers of World War II for de Havilland Aircraft of Canada which had an assembly plant, hangar and runway at Downsview.

Today the view of the harbour area is obscured by Toronto’s growth, and the federal government in a cost-cutting measure closed the military base in 1996, turning over the lands to the Crown Canada Lands Corporation Limited to manage. But the former de Havilland, since bought out by Bombardier, continues to use the runways for testing and delivery of aircraft, notably the production and assembly of the Dash 8 and the Global Express corporate jet.

And while Bombardier is one of the largest private employers in Toronto, the Downsview Lands have been turned over to Parc Downsview Park, a self-financing federal Crown corporation that has a master plan to develop the area as a national urban park, using the money it earns through rental income and a number of agreements with corporations using the facilities of the former military base. It has become even more known nationally and abroad with some of its recent activities.

Thousands of spectators turned up in July last year for the Rolling Stones severe acute respitory syndrome benefit concert, part of the effort to bring the economy back to life and visitors back to Toronto and Canada after the epidemic was brought under control. The year before, it was the venue for World Youth Day, when more than 800,000 people gathered to commemorate Pope John Paul II’s visit to Canada.

Those two events were highly recognized at home and abroad, but these were only two of the events from which Parc Downsview Park generates the money needed to develop its overall plan for the Downsview land as a unique urban recreational green space that includes forests, lakes, nature paths and other outdoor recreational areas. Other programs offered in the 1.7 million square feet of indoor space left over when the military shut down operations in 1996:

• More than 400,000 people a year use the Hangar Sports Complex for organized recreational activities such as indoor soccer, flag football and beach volleyball. The indoor facilities all meet Olympic training standards and many Canadian athletes and teams train there.

• The park offers educational programming to local schools, and a variety of cultural and heritage programs for the broader community. And more than 80,000 people annually attend Canada Day celebrations there.

• A large concrete former ammunition and weapons storage building is leased to television and movie production studios. Soul Food, Mutant X, The Eleventh Hour and Odyssey 5 were some of the titles being filmed during a recent visit. Scenes have also been shot for such movies as Total Recall, The Jessie Ventura Story, Driven and Iron Eagle 4.

The facility is also the home of Tattersall Casablanca, a full-service post-production and sound recording facility for the film and television industry.

• BMW Canada conducts its advanced driver training program on the tarmac adjacent to the Bombardier runway. Individual and corporate-sponsored drivers are guided by expert instructors to master sophisticated driving techniques and to cope with unexpected road conditions.

• There is even an Area 51, although it is not as secretive as its namesake the U.S. government will not admit exists hidden away in the deserts of Nevada. Here paint ball enthusiasts—private players and corporate clients—gather round the clock to hone their skills in shooting each other with paint balls in the state-of-the-art facilities.

• Other paying clients include driver examination centres, a nursery for Ontario native plants, a Web site grocery supply company, the communications field services provider Entourage, the Canadian packaging firm Nova Pack and the Toronto Wildlife Centre that treats injured animals and promotes healthy wildlife populations.

• And what is turning out to be one of the main draws at the park is the Toronto Aerospace Museum, a work in progress run by volunteers, that celebrates the country’s rich aerospace heritage.

“So far things are working out wonderfully,” says Garth Hardie, communications coordinator for Parc Downsview Park (PDP).”We have tenants that support our vision,” he adds, and the corporation expects to begin developing the outdoor areas of the park in the fall.

Just as enthusiastic is Tony Genco, executive vice-president of PDP. “I’m a neighbourhood boy,” he says, remembering that when he was growing up the old military base was surrounded by barriers and fences, “a very ominous place.” Looking at the place now “makes me proud to be here. We’re recognizing the past and looking ahead to the future. The goal is to educate and entertain at the same time.”

Both men recognize they owe a debt to the military for the lands, runways and sturdy buildings left behind when the base was closed. But there is still a significant military presence on the site.

One of those buildings is the new Denison Armoury, a three-storey 330,000 square-foot structure opened in 2002 at a cost of $42 million that houses among 24 organizations the headquarters for the Land Forces Central Area and the support group for the many reserve and cadet units in the Toronto area. When the former Canadian Force Base closed down, many of the military personnel were relocated to other bases, but some stayed at Downsview to support the reserve units which were then scattered throughout the city and area. Those in the new armoury handle supplies, transportation, some training and classroom instruction, and are provided with medical and dental care.

“Without them (the reserves) we would be lost,” says Master Warrant Officer Michel Berube, especially since the downsizing in the regular force over the last several years. “They are getting good training, and they integrate well with the regular forces. Reserve units are increasingly being deployed overseas, and in some cases make up about 50 per cent of the personnel. And Captain Allan Mertin, an 18-year veteran of the forces, agrees. “We go out of our way to help the reserves,” he says. “If it wasn’t for (them) it would be very difficult to do what we do.”

Just across the street from the armoury is another modern building, a squat structure dark in colour and heavily evident in security and the home of an agency that traces its history back to the beginning of WW II. This is the home of Defence Research and Development Canada, an agency of the Defence Department and one of six such laboratory facilities across the country. It houses 150 civilian and 65 military personnel and provides the Canadian Forces and industrial clients with research facilities and expertise.

The mission, according to agency deputy director general Brian Sabiston, is to enhance the effectiveness and ensure the health and safety of personnel in any human-machine system or adverse environment. The facilities available at the Downsview laboratories include climatic chambers, a deep diving facility, the only human centrifuge in the country, a high altitude chamber, a noise simulation facility and an impact test track. Results over the years have been impressive, dating back to advances in aviation medical research by a group that included Sir Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin. Another pioneer researcher was Dr. Wilbur Franks who developed the first anti-gravity, or G-suit, used in wartime service.

Other notable accomplishments include development of Canadian diving tables, used for calculating decompression times to prevent decompression illness (commonly referred to as the bends), that are currently used around the world by foreign navies, commercial diving companies and other civilian organizations. There is also a cooling system for aircrew, much like long underwear with water-cooling tubes embedded, that was first developed primarily for helicopter pilots during the First Gulf War. “The same equipment could be used to provide heat,” says Sabiston, such as in search and rescue operations in the northern climates.

The Toronto facility also conducted lab and field evaluations on the military’s Clothe-The-Soldier program, and has an impact studies facility that simulates crashes up to 100 km/hr for certification of transportation safety systems, the only facility of its kind in Canada.