The Battle of Beech Hall

Year Published:  1982
Resource Type:  Film/Video
Cx Number:  CX2649

Abstract: 
The events depicted in this film began when without warning politicians in Toronto's Borough of York decided to phase out Beech Hall, a subsidized seniors' apartment complex, to make way for a new development. The residents, some in their 80's and 90's, were asked to vacate the premises. But the surprised politicians soon discovered that it would take more than an eviction notice to oust the residents of Beech Hall.

THE BATTLE OF BEECH HALL documents the determined struggle by these seniors to save their homes, a struggle that led to the creation of the city's first housing co-operative for seniors.

THE BATTLE OF BEECH HALL challenges our perceptions of old people and calls into question conventional government approaches to treating the housing the elderly. The struggle waged by the Beech Hall seniors demonstrates dramatically how co-operative housing can provide an important alternative that not only helped these seniors save their homes, but also satisfies their basic demands for respect, independence, and community.