Liberty Village is typically associated with the young, trendy, and hip in the restaurant, sports, and condo scene.
In recent years, the neighborhood has been a cultural hub for many young Torontonians, continues to play host to a growing collection of young condo-dwellers, but for a long time Liberty Village has been the home of a thriving media, arts and design scene.
What we don’t typically associate Liberty Village with are baby boomers. What may be surprising to those that don’t know, one of Canada’s most prominent baby boomer-focused media companies calls Liberty Village home.
Known as ZoomerPlex, this is the headquarters of ZoomerMedia Limited and is stationed at 70 Jefferson Avenue. Here, one can find a number of baby boomer-focused properties, including the reputable live performance center Zoomer Hall.
Some of the biggest baby boomer-focused TV, radio, print, and digital content creators are based out of ZoomerPlex in Liberty Village. For Canada’s over-45 crowd, this is where it’s at!
The exact origins of ZoomerPlex can be traced back roughly a decade ago to one of Canada’s most acclaimed media property development experts. Media mogul Moses Znaimer is the co-founder of City TV; a former CBC media representative; and creator of Canadian independent channels including Much Music, Bravo!, Space, and Canada’s first 24-hour local news station now known as Toronto’s CP24. It was only in 2008 that he launched ZoomerMedia which was designated to develop a range of media properties specifically targeting the 45-plus demographic, and it wasn’t long after launching this venture that Moses Znaimer settled on Liberty Village’s 70 Jefferson Avenue as the perfect location for his company.
In the past, ZoomerPlex’s halls have been assumed for various live events including the acclaimed play Late Night. There have also been several events allowing residents to come in and watch TV shows being taped and live music performances. The range of creative activity has always attracted a diverse crowd.
If you’ve never been before, a great opportunity to check out ZoomerPlex is for Doors Open Toronto. In recent years, they’ve been a regular participant of the annual Toronto event when key landmarks open their doors to the general public to explore.
Among the more notable events that have been hosted at the 2.6 acre property, these include the MZTV Museum of Television & Archive exhibit, tapings for Conrad Black’s former TV talk show, several concerts including a notable one by Ronnie Hawkins in 2015, and IdeaCity discussions – a TED Talks-esque collection of speakers tackling subjects relevant to baby bombers, including medical marijuana and fun, tech-inspired gadgets.
Needless to say, it would be difficult to find a media space that Moses Znaimer has not had some involvement in. Liberty Village is lucky to have him. Since installing ZoomerMedia in the neighborhood, he has continued to broaden his ambitions for the center and it will be interesting to see where things lead in the future. As more development is brought to Liberty Village, ZoomerPlex may one day be a more prominent feature of the neighborhood with much potential to develop performance spaces, live recording spaces, and more!
