Problematic Park Design - Why Some Parks Don't Work

[Northern Light]

One request I'll roll over from last year is the Memorial Gardens Park at the East York Civic Centre.

I got there there yesterday, unfortunately, rather overcast.........but still, I have some pics and thoughts.

Photos are mine unless otherwise stated and taken June 30th, 2024.

Lets begin with an discussion of what the City says this space is............ and an aerial pic.

Oh.....wait a minute..........this park does NOT appear in the City's indexed list of named parks, LOL, I kid you not.

https://www.toronto.ca/data/parks/prd/facilities/parks/index.html

So we have no idea what the City thinks this space is supposed to be.........except for due consideration for its name 'Memorial Gardens' and the presence of a Cenotaph used for Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Aerial Pic: (from Google)

Above one can see the greenspace that surrounds the East York Civic Centre.

In terms of size 'the park' is really the area fronting the Civic Centre out to Coxwell which is ~1.2ha or about 3 acres.

The entire site including the Civic Centre building and parking lot, the Green P Parking and the 2 out buildings (one of which has parking) is ~2.8ha or about 7 acres.

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Before we dissect the design lets do our best to describe some purposes here:

1) Ceremonial - with particular reference to war veterans/Remembrance Day

2) Passive Greenspace.

3) Quiet Area for hospital patients.

4) Farmer's Market every Tuesday in the warmer months.

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Lets then add what the park is not:

- No sports facilities
- No playground or children's program space

- No 'nature' as such.

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Ok, so how'd they do?

We'll start w/the street edges, looking in to the space:

North-East corner:

No Park signage, though the Civic Centre signage is prominent...... err..........those flowers, in large grey tubs are unfortunate, I'm pro-flower, but I don't think this form of display adds value, it also partially obstructs the sign.

I would much prefer to see low, to medium height flowers directly in front of the armour stone below the signage, In terms of being welcoming, I'd really like to see some seating closer to the entrance, and also want to know why we have this extensive hardscape for a corner that really isn't that busy, that could be tightend up a bit, and maybe have some secondary flower displays as well.

Using Streetview lets move on the south-east entrance:

Same ugly flower containers......same lack of seating..... the hardscape here makes more sense as this is the corner with 2 bus stops, and opposite the hospital and an elementary school and health centre, so it does get busy. But the entrance really could use to be more inviting.

The white concrete (standard sidewalk treatment) for the path, while better than asphalt is not really very ceremonial or grand.

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Ok, let's head for what is arguably the main entrance, centred on Coxwell, mid-block between the other two entrances:

Ok..... I mean its not bad looking per se...........and I don't want to cut down the prominent tree......but....but.........

I mean shouldn't there be a clear view to the Cenotaph and the principle entrance to the Civic Centre from here?

The tree wasn't always that big and nice.........and maybe someone should have thought about its placement more carefully.........

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Lets look a bit closer:

Oh, you can see it.......if you're up close.............

Well turn to street view again to consider this: (2019)

Some selective trimming of the tree on the right would open up the prominent view a bit, the placement of the tree remains less than ideal, as I would really want to push the landscape framing back a bit, but that would encroach on the tree's roots.

I have to say, I'm not keen on the asymmetry here with the conifer on the left and the deciduous tree on the right. Its not terrible or anything, but its just not the way I would have chosen to frame this view.

Ok, lets take a closer look at those landscape beds:

Ya know, they're fine'ish......... if in need of a slight tidying.......... but does it seem worthy of a signature 'memorial' park? .....also, just way too green on green for my taste.

Looking to the left/south of the landscaping, along the Coxwell frontage:

You know, the lawn is green, the trees are mostly healthy, the lighting is in good condition.............there's really so much elsewhere in greater need of attention.........yet....the emptiness of it all bothers me.

I feel like a small amount of thoughtful seating, and some sort of landscape feature of some description other than grass to add a pop of colour would be welcome.

Now we'll move into the central space where the Farmer's Market is held:

The interlock is decent.........the benches are City-standard.........they're fine...............oh....oh, wait a minute..........could it be possible.............can dreams come true? A civic space in Toronto with:

....with garbage cans that aren't hopelessly ugly! Ok that's it, the space gets a free pass just for that!

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Seriously, we'll stop there for this post, and in the next I'll take a closer look at the area around the Centotaph, and some of the periperhal bits of the grounds.

 

[Northern Light]

We'll kick this bit off looking at the Cenotaph from both sides:

Looking back out:

What can one say? There's technically nothing wrong here, the pavers are in good shape, the shrubbery is maintained; but I confess to being a bit underwhelmed.

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Off to the right of the Cenotaph is the Arbor:

I like the idea here, and have to say, the vines growing on the arbor are growing like gangbusters.............but the positioning and scale of the near landscape bed leaves me feeling like the arbor is a bit closed off, again the extensive use of
perennials in the bed with green on green also creates dare a I say a bit of monotony.

Keep the arbor, but lets rethink how it relates to the ceremonial space.

Looking back at the Cenotaph and the Civic Centre from beside the arbor:

Again with the green on green.............there are a couple of flowers displays right by the Civic Centre entrance, but they're a bit under-sized, and under-scaled (the flowers are too short) to add a nice pop.

Lets take a closer look at those flowers:

There are few things I don't like here, but I'll try to avoid being totally nitpicky....... I'll simply point out that the pink flowers, which I think are begonias are barely 6cm high............while they can seen fine when you're up the stairs, in front of the Civic Centre doors.......they're almost invisible from below, perspective matters.

Moving on to the north end of the grounds..........we find the out building of the former East York Hydro, currently used by the Board of Health:

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I'll be honest.......... I can't quite fathom why this was retained....its a small space, with 2 small parking lots, and surely those offices could be consolidated more efficiently elsewhere.............

The landscape is the same as most of the park........trees and grass............ though there are a few dead trees on this side.

For some reason, the seating here is different:

The benches above are fine.........I take no real issue w/them other than I don't understand why we're using two different styles on one site..........but someone must explain to me why this bench pad comes with a big concrete curb on three sides? I don't recall seeing that done elsewhere........its not terrible, but ...it cost money, and I don't see the value-add.

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Looking north east towards Coxwell:

Yup, we've seen this somewhere before.......... LOL......... I like that there are picnic tables.......... this space could be a boon for hospital workers, teachers and staff to eat outside, but these do feel poorly placed and here I see no pads for them either.

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Finally, we'll move to the south east path, heading out to Coxwell:

The fencing on your right belongs to a one-storey childcare centre that was added to the grounds after the intial Civic Centre was built.

Its an important function, and the fence provides some privacy for the kids/workers........... I do wish they sited this facility differently, maybe on the old East York Hydro site? Its an important and needed facility, but it does not play well visually here w/the rest of the park.

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Further along, we get this odd seating area that i understand was meant to be a semi-private, restful space for hospital patients/visitors:

The sheer size of the hedges here, and interior landscape lead me to more of a sense of isolation and maybe even perceived safety risk for someone vulnerable sitting here. I respect the idea, I think the execution is off a bit.

Also, again with the green on green!

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That wraps our tour of the bulk of this space, there is a bit more green at the rear of the Civic Centre, which looks a lot like the front, except for the absence of a pathway and building entrances such that it feels quite forgotten.

So what to make of this space.............

Does it serve its purposes that we outlined at the beginning?

I would say it does, albeit with a smidge too much modesty/understatement.

Is it in good condition?

For the most part, yes, a few dead trees, some things that could be touched up, but there's no major sections of brown grass, no cracked pavements, or delapitated anything.....

On the one hand there really isn't any single major thing wrong...........yet on the other, the space underwhelms and feels like it doesn't quite reach its potential.

I'll have some thoughts in a subsequent post about some small things that could be changed at low to moderate cost, as well as some thoughts on the longer term potential of the site as buildings some due for renewal.

 

[christiesplits]

Thanks @Northern Light for the lovely surprise this morning. Great tour and review.

A few thoughts:

I agree that the parkette mostly succeeds, but could use some tweaks in certain places. Considering that a key purpose behind the park is to remember veterans, it still finds spots to be inviting for a lunch break or casual stroll.

While the mishmash of park furniture is unfortunate, it is nice to see garbage receptacles that aren't those giant wheeled garbage bins plaguing Toronto parks and sports fields.

The East York Farmers' Market has been an asset for the community in an area that lacks a local grocer. It's been great to see it expand in recent years.

Post-amalgamation, there have been discussions about the future of the Metro civic centres, East York included. In recent years, the East York Civic Centre has housed offices for different city departments, including MLS and Finance. With the glut of office space post-COVID, I'm wondering if the Civic Centre could be repurposed for other civic needs, like a courthouse (see the York Civic Centre) or satellite college campus? Note that Centennial College operates the ECE building at the SE corner, and the Centennial Story Arts Centre is just down the road (2 km) along Mortimer.