Rendering of St Leo's School Redevelopment - courtesy of Kohn Shiner Architects
The redevelopment proposal would retain and restore the original 1926 school building and link it to a new three storey building to be built to the south. The later additions to the original 1926 school building would be demolished.
The architect of the original school building was Dr. William J Woods, a Mimico Dentist. Dr Woods had a long involvement with the education sector in Mimico including being a member of the Public School Board, the High School Board and the Separate School Board. He based the design of the new St. Leo's Roman Catholic School on the existing Public School on Dixie Road just south of Dundas Street in Toronto Township (present day City of Mississauga).
According to “We Remember, We Believe: A History of Toronto’s Catholic Separate School Boards, 1841-1997” by Robert T Dixon, “The Mimico RCSS [Roman Catholic School Section] Board, formed in February 1926, had opened St. Leo that same year with the teaching and administrative assistance of the CSJ [Community of St. Joseph (Sisters)]. The Board served Mimico’s Catholic children and those residing in Etobicoke and New Toronto within three miles of St. Leo's. The trustees had promised that they would never raise taxes; that promise had kept the board from amalgamating with the TSSB and TSSSB."
"In 1967 a group of parents in Mimico asked Art Arbour, an MSSB teacher, to run for trustee so that he would bring about amalgamation with the MSSB. They were paying tuition to send their children to Michael Power/St. Joseph. Since in 1968 the MSSB had assumed responsibility for grades nine and ten in all of Metro Toronto’s Catholic high schools, amalgamation would render grades nine and ten free for Mimico’s Catholic students."
"The group kept showing up at board meetings until in 1968 Arbour got the Mimico RCSS Board to pass a motion to join the MSSB.” (pg 285) The amalgamation became effective January 1, 1969.
According to the heritage report by ERA Architects: "The interior of the 1926 school building is proposed to be restored to its original configuration and rehabilitated to suit future programmatic needs, including the introduction of a central Learning Commons, modernization of classroom facilities, and accessibility upgrades."
The application to the city is currently being reviewed by planning staff.
On October 30, 2020 the Toronto Preservation Board designated the original school building under the Ontario Heritage Act. You can download the staff report here. The decision was subsequently adopted by both the Etobicoke York Community Council and Toronto City Council.
The original 1926 building will be protected and preserved for the future.
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