Rail Deck Park (?, ?, ?)

[ChesterCopperpot]

Council just voted to proceed with the plan - per Joe Cressy's Twitter

 

[PinkLucy]

And the usual suspects voted against. Holyday must have hit the wrong button.

 

[WislaHD]

Trudeau must have laughed when he dumped Karygiannis onto the City.

 

[MetroMan]

And here are shots from this afternoon of the park structure:

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Front page story on the new park: http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/08/renderings-reveal-details-cibc-square’s-elevated-park

This is it. This is the model for building RailDeckPark. Give the property owners on each side of the rail corridor long term ownership of the airspace over their length of the corridor with the condition that it be made into a park connected to the adjacent parks along the corridor and is publicly available.

I can think of several segments where that would make financial sense for the property owners. Rogers would get a large park connected to the SkyDome where BlueJays fans could watch games. Rogers would get exclusive concessions rights to sell food and drinks in the park and could on occasion host paid events like outdoor concerts or beer festivals for example.

The Well would benefit from having a connection to the waterfront through a soon to be world famous park. Allied could certainly find monetization models for the park with sponsors.

Oxford Place would be able to use the rail corridor air rights to build a new Metro convention centre uninterrupted from Front to Bremner as long as the roof of the new structure is a park over the rail corridor portion.

I think that once CIBC Square Park opens, it’ll start the ball rolling on the other parts of the rail corridor.

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

Trudeau must have laughed when he dumped Karygiannis onto the City.

Karygiannis might have the last laugh come 2019

 

[dowlingm]

The key difference, surely, between RDP and CIBC is that the CIBC park spans between two towers owned by the same entity as condition of building those towers. It *might* be viable in an intensive redevelopment of MTCC, replacing the existing connector, but I think claiming there is some sort of financial model for Rogers is a huge stretch.

 

[raptor]

If only one company was allowed to build 5-6 condos along the rail corridor in exchange for allowance to build a rail deck park at no cost to the city...

 

[mdrejhon]

I wonder how much that "little" raildeck park costs. The big one is expected to cost ten figures.

IMHO. this will slowly happen in a 25+ year window now that this is a master plan - unless pushed along by an event like a theoretical Expo 2035 deadline - however, many are a bit turned off by big megaevents like those.

I'm looking forward to seeing the little raildeck park, it will be fascinating to see a prototype, a template, a role modeL, for the massive one to gradually come a generation after.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I think it amazing to see something that was only discussed as a fantasty "wouldn't it be great if we could" idea on forums such as this less that 15 yrs ago. Actually coming to reality and fruition

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Actually coming to reality and fruition

Is it though?

 

[Kitsune]

Looking at that vote from December ... this may be one of the first victims of a 25 member council. It'll be really close.

 

[raptor]

Looking at that vote from December ... this may be one of the first victims of a 25 member council. It'll be really close.

I hope so. Let ORCA build it instead.

 

[kotsy]

Mayor John Tory says second-term priorities include affordable housing, rail deck park

Tory said he expects in January city staff will report to council on next steps on rail deck park, a proposed kind of green roof that would span the rail corridor connecting downtown to the waterfront. The proposal had mixed support on council last term, with some saying the core desperately needs parkland and others questioning how to pay the $1.6 billion-plus price tag.

The mayor said he’s committed to “aggressively” pursuing the project that city staff are expected to suggest would need funding from corporations and developers, and could become a citywide draw and tourist attraction.

 

[adHominem]

It's only a priority if you're willing to pay for it. Otherwise it's just a wish list item. Given Mayor Status Quo's frequently demonstrated unwillingness to put actual dollars or political capital behind his stated "priorities", you'll forgive me for not holding my breath.

 

[Filip]

All these important items... Transit, housing, decrepit infrastructure.. No, over $1 billion for a park.

Great priorities.