On July 27, 2011, a heritage plaque was erected at the Bain Co-op Apartment Complex to commemorate a landmark in publicly supported rental housing in Toronto.
With Gerald Whyte of the Riverdale Historical Society, and MPP Peter Tabuns.
Riverdale Courts 1913 (with later additions)
A landmark in the early development of publicly supported rental-housing in Toronto, Riverdale Courts was constructed for the Toronto Housing Company, a business backed by the City of Toronto. Faced with a shortage of affordable housing, the Company had Toronto architecture firm Eden Smith and Sons design both Spruce Court (Cabbagetown) and this larger apartment complex. The firm's plans reflected interest in "social uplift" and in the Garden City movement. Two hundred and four flats were constructed here in the English Cottage style, each with a street-level entrance, and apartment blocks were oriented around grass courts intended for children's play. in 1922-23, an additional 52 apartments designed by architect F.H. Marani were built along Logan Avenue and at the Courts' southwest corner. After a turbulent period of private ownership, the resident-run Bain Apartments Co-operative took possession of the entire apartment complex in 1977.
