A Canada Millennium Partnership Program Project

An initiative of the The Thessalonikeans Society of Metro Toronto Inc at 55 Danforth Avenue Toronto, Ontario, M4K 1M8, Canada tel: (416) 405-8807 The Thessalonikean Educational Resource Centre will be equipped with various resources and facilities to promote the study and research of Hellenism with a particular emphasis on northern Greece (Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace). The Centre will house a growing collection of materials in hard copy or electronic format concerning northern Greece and the diaspora, including its Canadian immigrant communities. It will also be equipped with state-of-the-art multimedia facilities and internet resources with which to access information and link with other libraries and resource centres around the world.

To promote the study and research of Hellenism with a particular emphasis on northern Greece (Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace); To operate an educational resource centre open to researchers, scholars, students, and the general public interested in Greece and its Canadian immigrant communities; To sponsor the publication and facilitate the dissemination of academic research relating to this region and its diaspora communities; To establish links with interested members of the academic community and support relevant research through grants and scholarships; To inform and educate the general population regarding relevant topics and issues through public lectures, talks, seminars, exhibits and displays; To function as an information service for government agencies, the media, businesses as well as other interested organizations.

The Thessalonikean Educational Resource Centre is an initiative of great importance for both the academic community and the general public. The project is unique because it will specifically promote the study and research of northern Greece by focusing on the collection and dissemination of relevant information and the organization of various venues through which this information can be shared. The Centre will foster mutual understanding through the sharing of cultural heritage and scholarship. By bridging communities through knowledge it will link not only Canada and Greece but also a well-established Greek immigrant community with the rest of Canadian society. In drawing upon the considerable resources of the largest Greek-Canadian community in Canada, the renovation of a Canadian Heritage Site and establishment of a public Educational Resource Centre constitutes a significant contribution to Canadian society as a whole.

Plans to create a Hellenic educational resource centre couldn't have been laid at a better time: The new city of Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world. Bringing all of its resources, knowledge and expertise under one roof is a wise and generous initiative that will weave a rich and textured thread through the fabric of this community. Mel Lastman Mayor of Toronto The advent of technology has revolutionized research and education, forcing us to reconsider our notion of what a library is. The Thessalonikean Educational Resource Centre is wisely designed to be a library of the future, a place that combines traditional and new dynamic media to offer its users a fascinating journey through centuries of Greek cultural heritage Maria C. Pantelia Ph.D. Associate Professor of Classics and Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Director University of California, Irvine

In 1996 The Thessalonikeans Society of Metro Toronto Inc. purchased the Prince Edward Public Lavatory situated at 55 Danforth Avenue with the purpose of establishing a public Educational Resource Centre. Built by City Architect G.F.W. Price in 1920-1921, this one story historic building was placed on the Historical Board's Inventory of Heritage Properties in 1984. As part of its initiative the Society has fully committed itself to renovating and preserving this designated heritage site. In order to make the proposed Educational Resource Centre a fully functioning reality, The Thessalonikean Society of Metro Toronto Inc. has launched a fundraising campaign. The purpose of The Thessalonikean Campaign is to raise the necessary funds required: to complete the restoration and renovations to the building already underway; to continue to build the resource collection; to equip and staff the resource centre.

The rich material expressiveness of the original building, with its steeply pitched flared extended eaves gable roof and fine Period Revival detailing, is preserved and complemented by a proposed interior design that engages the historical building and articulates within a modern palette of materials its new usage as the Thessalonikean Educational Resource Centre. Winston Bridgeman Heritage Toronto As a second generation Canadian designer, I have been greatly inspired by the vision of this project and the rich context this particular building offers. It has allowed me the opportunity to not only draw from the history of the city I was brought up in, but through Toronto's history to bring into focus and relevance i n our lives today, the history of my own heritage. Maria Missailidis, B.E.S., B.Arch Designer of the Project

The Thessalonikeans Society of Metro Toronto Inc. has already invested its own resources, both human and financial, in the purchase, planned restoration and renovation of the designated building. It has also procured initial seed money from various individuals and organizations to begin the restora tion and renovation itself. The Society has furthermore assembled a sizeable and growing collection of several hundred titles concerning the history and culture of northern Greece and its diaspora communities. A number of these books, documents and other research materials have been purchased while others have been obtained through individual donations.		The Society is currently seeking additional funding and charitable donations in order to bring the entire initiative to fruition. $200,000 has already been invested in the project; an additional $300,000 is needed to complete the restoration and renovations of the building itself, to further develop the resource collection, and to equip and staff the resource centre. This is where we need your support. DONATION FORM