Food options on the Toronto Islands might finally expand (at least a little)
For a decade, William Beasley Enterprises Inc. held the exclusive rights to sell food and drink on the Toronto Islands. That contract is now up, and the city is looking for bidders to take over a new 10-year agreement beginning in 2013—albeit with one little change: according to Global, Olympic Island will no longer be included in the agreement, reportedly after various festivals hosted on the islands (reasonably) complained about being forced to use Beasley to supply food at their events (not surprisingly, the company is looking to renew its contract with the city). The change should make the space more attractive to potential renters, and should (fingers crossed) improve the variety of food. It could also mean that those looking to host a food-centric event will no longer have to instinctively turn to the estimable Evergreen Brick Works, which shows up in pretty much every edition of our Weekly Eater. [Global]
&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ferry.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_158601" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="We want food! (Image: Stephanie Fysh from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)"][/caption]
For a decade, William Beasley Enterprises Inc. held the exclusive rights to sell food and drink on the Toronto Islands. That contract is now up, and the city is looking for bidders to take over a new 10-year agreement beginning in 2013—albeit with one little change: according to Global, Olympic Island will no longer be included in the agreement, reportedly after various festivals hosted on the islands (reasonably) complained about being forced to use Beasley to supply food at their events (not surprisingly, the company is looking to renew its contract with the city). The change should make the space more attractive to potential renters, and should (fingers crossed) improve the variety of food. It could also mean that those looking to host a food-centric event will no longer have to instinctively turn to the estimable Evergreen Brick Works, which shows up in pretty much every edition of our Weekly Eater. [Global]){kind=link}
finally! in fact all of the public buildings, ferry terminals etc could use a facelift. the islands are an invaluable resource trapped in mid-70’a thinking. if this were chicago, paris, new york or any other large city all of this would have been dealt with long ago. about time we get in gear.
Nice, but not good enough. Why does Toronto have to take such ridiculously small baby steps towards progress. The city throws us a tiny “bone” and now expects us to rejoice. Meanwhile the rest of the park is handed over to Beasley for another tens years. The city, and all levels of government in Canada, need to get out of the business of protecting monopolies – Torontonians need to start getting angry about this. Why do we have to travel to another city for a great waterfront?
Down with another Monopoly!!! Protecting monopolies like The LCBO, the Milk Board and William Beasley Enterprises contributes to the mediocrity of Torontos food scene. STOP MONOPOLIES NOW !!