Roughly a decade since work began on the massive Concord Park Place community next to Bessarion subway station in North York, the neighbourhood's namesake eight-acre park has begun to take shape. Construction was recently awarded to Eastern Construction for the new Bessarion Community Centre and Park, and a photo by an UrbanToronto Forum contributor from the adjacent Tango condominium tower shows that the latter is well under construction as the former awaits the arrival of construction crews.

Facing west over new park at Concord Park Place, image by Forum contributor Moto

In the image above, a teardrop-shaped area with circular concrete forms in the middle marks where the location of a splashpad that becomes a skating rink during the colder months. The central island will support a tree planting and will be surrounded by water or ice. On the east side of the feature, a single-storey pavilion building can be seen taking shape above. A pair of east-facing renderings, below, show what the area will look like in two seasons.

Splash pad/skating rink at Concord Park Place's new park, image courtesy of Concord

The completed park is also set to feature a central plaza where an extension of Esther Shiner Boulevard will turn north. A nexus of pathways connecting the park's corners will be found here. 

East-facing aerial rendering of Concord Park Place, image courtesy of Concord

Located in the northwest corner of the community beside Bessarion Station, the community centre is also slated to begin construction very soon, with funding now in place for the four-storey MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects-designed facility.

Bessarion Community Centre, image via submission to City of Toronto

The new 209,000 ft2 (19,416 m2) community amenity will house a 13,000 ft2 Toronto Public Library branch relocating from Bayview Village, a 27,000 ft aquatic centre, a 38,000 ft2 recreational centre, a 6,400 ft2 Children's Services day care centre and a 3-level, 196-space underground parking garage to be operated on a commercial basis by the Toronto Parking Authority.

Bessarion Community Centre, image via submission to City of Toronto

Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.