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.
Photo from Heritage Mississauga Archives
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.
Our History
In 2008, a core group of dedicated community-minded individuals formed the Lakeview Legacy Community Foundation (LLCF) in response to the proposed demolition of the remaining Small Arms Inspection Building by the TRCA.
LLCF recognized the local and national historic importance of the building and site and as a result the City of Mississauga intervened and designated the building under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2009.
The LLCF incorporated as the Small Arms Society (SAS) in 2014 and continued to work with TRCA to engage the community and to champion the preservation and adaptive re-use of the building and adjacent site as a community creative hub.
In 2017, the City of Mississauga was mobilized into acquiring the building and five acres of land from TRCA, supported by the SAS’ strong business case for redevelopment into diverse use-of-spaces.
The building includes three distinct components: a north-facing two-storey former administration wing (“North End”), a bridging section between the north and south wings (“Bridge Area”), and the south-facing one-storey former inspection plant (“South Building”). The South Building was restored by the City in 2017/2018 as part of a first phase of renovations.
The Small Arms Inspection Building’s South Building opened to the public in June 2018. The SAS was instrumental in cultivating the early partnerships to develop and produce a series of collaborative creative programs in the restored section and grounds. These programs and events served to establish the Small Arms Inspection Building as a new cultural ‘destination’ for the Lakeview neighbourhood, and for Mississauga.
In January 2020, the SAS changed its name to CREATIVEHUB 1352 to better reflect our role in animating the Small Arms Inspection Building as a community creative hub.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown-up some challenges to our normal operations, we continue to deliver creative, inclusive programming that generates public value by bringing people together and strengthening community cultural development.
CREATIVEHUB 1352’s original mission to preserve the building and site and to elevate a shared creative hub vision, recognized by SAIB's stakeholders, has proved successful.
CREATIVEHUB 1352 is well-positioned for the next phase in its evolution.
