As crowds roam downtown Toronto neighbourhoods the evening of Saturday, October 4 and on into the wee hours of October 5 seeking out the ephemeral installations that make Nuit Blanche a one-night-only discovery, there will be a long term discovery to make too as the fences currently surrounding June Callwood Park will have come down.

Ure-tech surfaces colour much of June Callwood Park pink, image by Craig White

Crews are now finishing up the components that will make the gh3-designed park special. The award-winning design slots trees in amongst pavers, garden strips, and high-tech cushioned pink surfaces all laid out in the waveform of June Callwood speaking the words "I believe in kindness". The sound-related layout of the park is carried through artists Steve Bates and Douglas Moffat—who work together as soundFIELD—to create a sonic public art installation in one of the park's groves. OKTA will bring a 'cloud cover' soundscape to the grove through speakers arrayed throughout the grove, seen under construction amidst the trees in the image below. How will it work? It's rather ingenious, and can be read about here. How will it sound? That answer will come on October 4.

Installation of soundFIELD sonic artwork progresses, image by Craig White

June Callwood Park has no grass, but its cushioned pink Ure-Tech surfaces, both on the ground and covering a set of maze-link benches, will make for an especially inviting playground for kids. The park is located between new condominium developments of the Fort York Neighbourhood, and becomes a new link connecting the grassed Fort York lands and Garrison Common to the north with the grassed Coronation Park to the south.

Workmen finish up the spongy benches, image by Craig White

Callwood, who died in 2007, was a journalist, author, radio and television host, and activist who founded or co-founded over 50 social action organizations to tackle issues especially related to women, children, AIDS, and censorship. The City of Toronto is honouring her memory in the naming of this new space.

Want to know more about June Callwood Park? UrbanToronto's dataBase file for the project, linked below, has renderings and more information. Want to talk about it? Choose the associated Forum thread link to join in on the conversation or see many more photos, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.