• The City of Toronto is building a new fire station on 165 Grenoble Dr. in Flemingdon Park, and to do so, it has to take out two of four tennis courts and some parking space in the neighbourhood.
  • Residents have shared concerns about the need for recreational spaces in the neighbourhood, parking, traffic, pedestrian safety, noise and construction impacts.
  • City staff, including from CreateTO, Fire Services, Parks and Recreation and the local councillor have been working to respond to these concerns and explore options for new sports amenities.

Flemingdon Park residents might be losing some tennis courts — but they’re gaining a new fire hall and potentially, new recreational amenities in the neighbourhood.

Last month, the City of Toronto announced to locals that it plans to build the Flemingdon fire hall on 165 Grenoble Dr., to do so, it would remove two of four tennis courts and some parking space between Angela James Arena and St. John XXIII Catholic School.

Since making the announcement, City agencies held three public meetings to inform residents of the plan and hear out their feedback: from a heated first community pop-up where many joined to express frustration and concerns, to a calmer public information session where staff came ready to answer questions and finally a most recent town hall that the local councillor Jon Burnside hosted this week with an 11-person panel to address remaining issues and share ongoing plans to add new recreational spaces to the neighbourhood.

“Actually, I think it’s a big win to get the fire hall,” Coun. Jon Burnside told locals who attended his town hall on July 14. “The city says everyone has the right to fire services. So that’s our priority, bar none.”

In an email to The Green Line, Toronto Fire Services (TFS) said it identified the need for a new fire station following a review of its emergency response performance in Ward 16, Don Valley East, where Flemingdon Park is located.

Last year, TFS found that 39% of the time it couldn’t meet its goal of a unit arriving first on site within six minutes and 24 seconds.

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“Response times in the area have been impacted by travel distances and the availability of nearby fire crews,” TFS wrote. ”Without the implementation of a new fire station, response times in Ward 16 are expected to continue to deteriorate as population and emergency service demand increase.”

During the town hall this Tuesday, Fire Chief and general manager Jim Jessop told attendees, “We all know when emergencies happen, seconds absolutely make a difference.”

The proposed Flemingdon Park fire station would improve TFS’s ability to respond quickly by reducing travel times and increasing unit availability, according to the email statement.

Throughout the three public meetings over the past two months, residents had many questions about issues that would arise with the construction of a new fire station. They expressed concern for the safety of pedestrians, especially children at the nearby school who could run in front of the fire trucks accidentally when arriving to and leaving school, traffic management on an already crowded road and noise that would disrupt condo dwellers across the street.

Jessop said during the town hall that most Toronto fire stations are embedded in residential neighbourhoods, 25 stations out of 84 are located near schools, if not right beside them and TFS responds to 180,000 incidents a year. All without major issues.

Pedestrian safety

“I’ve been chief now since Jan. 2, 2025. Not a single time in those 180,000 have we struck a child,” Jessop said. He added that firefighters receive substantial training, adhere standard operating guidelines and undergo quality assurance. TFS works with the Ministry of Transportation on license renewals and does spot checks on their drivers’ records every month.

“I can tell you, in 18 months, not a single child has been struck by a fire truck responding to or coming back from a call.”

Traffic management

During the June 16 meeting, staff said fire stations can use a traffic-signal preemption system, which overrides street lights and signs to increase traffic flow. This system is controlled by a button inside the fire hall to ensure the lights are green when the truck heads out onto the road.

Coun. Jon Burnside said the congestion to reach the community is an additional argument as to why a closer fire station is needed.

City staff are preparing traffic studies “to ensure safe circulation for both emergency vehicles and the community” — it’ll be available on CreateTO’s webpage for the project.

Noise complaints

Jessop said on July 14 that out of the 180,000 times TFS has responded to an incident, he’s received fewer than 20 phone calls a year about siren noise and other operational issues across all of Toronto.

On June 16, fire service staff had also appeased residents’ concerns by saying that sirens aren’t usually needed at night.

In a FAQ slide shared during that meeting, CreateTO stated, “While sirens and emergency lights are used when required, clear operating guidelines support mandatory and discretionary use, allowing crews, where safe, to help minimize noise in the community.”

“The last thing we wanted to do was actually take out parking space or tennis courts or whatever, but we had to make that choice,” Coun. Jon Burnside said. “And I stand by that choice.”

Throughout the first pop-up event and through posters shared with the community, CreateTO staff explained that 165 Grenoble Dr. is the best spot for the fire hall for many reasons.

  • It’s City-owned land, which saves money and makes permits easier. On July 14, Coun. Jon Burnside reminded residents that Toronto doesn’t have a lot of land, and it’s particularly hard to come by available spaces in the neighbourhood.
  • It’s the appropriate size and shape. The fire hall wouldn’t fit in other locations, which might be best suited for new tennis courts instead.
  • It has access to key roads, as well as existing water and sewage infrastructure.
  • It’s in the right spot for the best response time for emergency services.

During the past two months, community members had suggested building the fire hall in the Hydro Corridor, in Thorncliffe Park, or near the now-defunct Ontario Science Centre. Staff repeated that the location is finalized and not up for discussion.

“I wouldn’t support moving the station to an area that increases the response time, that not only places your lives at risk, but my staff’s,” Jessop said at the town hall.

Flemingdon Park residents have been clear that they want and need more recreational spaces.

“What we heard really loud is that the current tennis courts in this community are so valuable and it’s a commitment certainly of the councillor and of Parks and Recreation to work together to make sure that this community benefits and is better off after this fire hall is built from a recreation amenity perspective,” said Matt Bentley, a project manager at Parks, Forestry and Recreation, who was at the July 14 town hall.

In an email to The Green Line, CreateTO said that the City is exploring sites to build new sports amenities for the neighbourhood at and the nearby Hydro Corridor.

“That’s going to take a bit more time because it’s under the hydro wires and they’re difficult to deal with, but preliminary discussions have been positive,” Coun. Jon Burnside said in the town hall.

The City is also in talks with the Toronto Catholic District School Board to determine whether residents can use the school’s parking and recreation facilities after classes. It’ll also work on upgrading existing infrastructure to be multi-purpose, because residents expressed a desire for spaces to accommodate pickleball and volleyball players, too.

CreateTO staff are working on finalizing design, traffic and construction plans, which will be submitted as a report to the City Council by late August. Once approved by the end of the year, the project can move ahead to construction in 2027, with an expected completion date by 2029.

If you have more questions or concerns, you can let me know at yara@thegreenline.to or get in touch directly with City staff.