It has been a long time coming, but Regent Park the reborn neighbourhood is finally to have Regent Park the actual park as its centrepiece as of this coming weekend. There's a celebration to mark the occasion, and you're all invited!

Rendering of the central plaza, image courtesy of The Daniels Corporation

The park doesn't look quite like what's pictured above, and it won't until the trees have grown in for a decade, but what's there now hints at the promise in the rendering above (and others to be found in our dataBase file). In fact, the last of the work on the park is going on now in anticipation of Saturday's big opening. In the image below, we caught the last of the trees going in along the east side of the park beside MJMA's fantastic Aquatic Centre (already open, and a winner of a number of awards).

The last trees are arriving on site, image by Jack Landau

On the west edge of the park, work is finishing up gardens, and a RAW-designed space frame shelter next to the park's new community oven and an off-leash areas for dogs.

The last plantings are going in and finishes are going on the structures, image by Jack Landau

What the local kids will be most excited about is that they'll no longer have to sneak into the playground: loads of equipment will be available and no longer behind fences!

The playground is ready, image by Jack Landau

There's much more to the park than what we are hinting at in those three photos, so you'll have to come and check it out for yourself. If you can come, Saturday afternoon is definitely the time to do it. All the stops are being pulled out for the celebration which will start at 1:30 PM as an impressive roster of talent comes together to put on a real party. Directed by Bill Coleman, choreographer of the renowned local dance troupe Coleman Lemieux, the entertainment will include everyone from the impressive performers of several Daniels Spectrum resident companies to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; the full list of what's on is below.

So come and enjoy it all, and be there when Toronto's latest City park is added to our life here.

Want to know more about Regent Park? You can check out UrbanToronto's dataBase file for the project, linked below. Want to take about it? You can join in on the conversation in the associated Forum thread, or add your comment in the space provided on this page.