About Us
Photo by Shawn Antonio
Who we are
We are a community of dedicated, hard working individuals.
Our vision is to reinvent the Small Arms Inspection Building as a multidisciplinary creative hub. With a lot of hard work and support, we were able to do just that.
This wonderful, light-filled creative hub welcomes you to explore and immerse yourself into the beautifully collaborative atmosphere. With a fresh new interior and an evolving community, the possibilities are endless.
Our vision
Reimagining the possibilities with the CreativeHub.
Since day one, we have been committed to reanimating the Small Arms Inspection Building by working collaboratively with the community and key stakeholders to provide programs and events.
We envision the transformation of this compelling, light-filled industrial building into a dynamic Creative Hub to honour its rich past and provide a sense of place and community for current and future generations.
Our mission
Connect, collaborate, and create.
The Creative Hub 1352 will act as a catalyst, facilitator and leader in supporting the adaptive re-use, management and programming of the Small Arms Inspection building as a Creative Hub.
Creative Hub 1352 will champion the development of creative programming emphasizing collaboration across disciplines and the intersection of people and ideas.
Our Commitment
The Creative Hub 1352 wishes to acknowledge and honour the land upon which the Small Arms Inspection Building is situated as the historical and traditional territory of First Nation peoples. We recognize and thank the Anishinabek (Ojibway), Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation for their stewardship of these lands over millennia and are grateful to have the opportunity to work here and continue to honour the heritage and build community on this territory.
The Creative Hub 1352 is committed to ensuring that its internal policies and practices are free of barriers, emphasize the value of diversity, and promote full participation to ensure dignity, respect, and equal access for volunteers, participants, staff and residents. Through our processes and practices, we are working to eliminate barriers for people who are usually underrepresented in Canada’s workforce – Aboriginal people, those of the LGBTTQ2+ community, people with disabilities, racialized persons, and women.
Photo from Heritage Mississauga Archives
Our History
The Small Arms Society (SAS) originally formed in 2008 with a core group of dedicated community-minded individuals who formed the Lakeview Legacy Community Foundation (LLCF) in response to the proposed demolition of the Small Arms Inspection Building in the Lakeview neighbourhood of Mississauga. At the time, the building was owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).
The LLCF recognized the local and national historic importance of the building and site including the significant contribution of the women and men who worked there. Through the efforts of the LLCF and community, the City of Mississauga designated the property under the Ontario Heritage Act in the spring of 2009.
In 2014 the LLCF incorporated as the Small Arms Society, a non-profit corporation under the Ontario Corporations Act to continue to represent the community in championing the preservation and adaptive reuse of the Small Arms Inspection Building into a Creative Hub.
SAS believes that this important addition to the Lakeview area and surrounding communities will contribute to ongoing community revitalization and neighbourhood renewal in the area.
In 2016 the City of Mississauga committed to purchase the building and five acres of adjacent land from the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). The acquisition of the building and land was completed in the April 2017. The TRCA still owns approximately 9.7 hectares (24 acres) of property adjacent to the building and lands acquired by the City of Mississauga.
SAS remains committed to working with the City, the community and key stakeholders in transforming the Small Arms Inspection Building and site into a Creative Hub and ensuring the creative and collaborative use of spaces with a dynamic mix of arts, heritage, environmental sciences and technology endeavours.
Photo by Bill Soper