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Last Friday marked a special milestone for the rapidly growing Parkway Forest neighbourhood. On June 21st, the ceremonial groundbreaking was held for the Parkway Forest Community Centre, an integral component in developer ELAD Canada Inc.’s master-planned neighbourhood, Emerald City.
The Diamond Schmitt Architects-designed Parkway Forest Community Centre will add 50,000-square-feet of community recreation space to a neighbourhood undergoing monumental change. Programming spaces and facilities will include the first full-size gymnasium in the neighbourhood plus a running track, multi-purpose room, an arts and crafts room, youth lounge, meeting room, weight room, aerobics and dance studio, and a YMCA-run daycare, the first childcare facility of its kind in the area. The facility will also feature a spacious green roof, a commercial teaching kitchen and an adjacent rooftop garden.
Emerald City will feature a series of installations by acclaimed Canadian novelist and artist Douglas Coupland, known as much for his written works as for his uniquely colourful and abstract works of art. Surprisingly, this installation will be the first major permanent public art project in Ward 33 (Don Valley East), bringing a much needed shot of colour to the relatively monochromatic local cityscape.
“As a developer, our commitment is not just to build great condos, but to take a leading role in building great communities,” said Netanel Ben-Or, Vice-President, Development and Marketing of ELAD Canada. “To be able to contribute such an important neighbourhood component as the Parkway Forest Community Centre to the overall plan for Emerald City is something we see as a duty" Mr. Ben-Or continued, "It’s a tangible way to let residents know we care about the quality of their lives and that of their families.”
After a speech from local Ward 33 Councillor Shelley Carroll in which she welcomed a development she sees as very important for the area, participants departed the Emerald City sales centre and headed for the community centre construction site, a short distance away.
Silver shovels in hand, Councillor Carroll was joined by representatives from ELAD Canada to ceremonially turn over the first pile of earth, commemorating the beginning of construction.
Just across the street, the WZMH Architects-designed Emerald City complex itself is growing at rapid pace, with the tallest of the three current buildings now topped off at 36 storeys, and its smaller siblings quickly rising to the south.
With its position atop the eastern edge of the North Don Valley, Emerald City is highly visible when viewed from the west, particularly along Sheppard Avenue, east of Bayview.
A total of six more buildings are planned for the Emerald City community, transforming this 20-acre cluster of mid-century suburban towers-in-the-park into a more urban, 21st century community. The first building in the next phase of Emerald City is set to launch this coming fall. When completed, the development will add 2,500 residences to the burgeoning Don Mills and Sheppard neighbourhood, steps from Fairview Mall as well as the Sheppard subway, Highways 401 and 404, all providing residents with easy access to multiple forms of transportation.
For additional information including building facts, renderings and floorplans, please visit the related dataBase page, linked below. A new dataBase page for the Parkway Forest Community Centre can be found below too, including floor plans and more facts about the project.
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