Toronto Rees Park Playground and Pavillion | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

That's good news. It should bring some well-needed life and activity to the recently refurbished retail spaces and lagoon to the west.
If only they could improve the pedestrian connections underneath the Gardiner -- the street crossings at these intersections are not the most pleasant nor safest way of getting to Queens Quay.
 
There's not much they can do with Lower Simcoe but all the other street crossings have been greatly improved over the course of the last five years. They feel much safer and look a lot better. All the right turn lanes have been removed for wider sidewalks, shorter crossings and even some landscaping.
 
If there is a park, I echo neuhaus' comment that the connections north are key. How about a pedestrian bridge OVER the Gardiner that connects this space to the future Copeland Transformer park. Make it a landmark destination with a lookout where you can view the water to the south, downtown to the north, and the traffic down below both east and west. Create stepped seating like Highline's 10th Avenue amphitheater. (See image attached).

With that being said, with the future improvements to the former York offramp area, the Jack Layton Ferry area overhaul, and the other parks going up near the waterfront, do we need another park here? If I'm down by the waterfront, I'm going to head to the waterfront and not next to the Gardiner. Instead, build a landmark and create a pedestrian bridge is the way to go.

Place the landmark building at the west side of this site than have my proposed bridge going from eastern side of this site northeast over the Gardiner to Copeland Transformer area. Would truly have wonderful views of HTO Park and the water to the South and connects very nicely with the elevated Copeland Transformer area on the North side.

Here is a rough 360 degree view from the Gardiner of HTO and the downtown...

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/43.6...4!1sUMv4LjIURz3TnqKY_Js3gQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
 

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AlvinofDiaspar said:
Note in the display boards that the park serves another purpose - being the site of another stormwater storage tank.

AoD
Click to expand...

Actually a combined sewer/stormwater drain overflow containment tank... although it's planned only as 'future' construction.

The best thing about this site being retained as park is that it will help protect the long views from Toronto Harbour & Islands to the Skydome and the lower part of the CN Tower by eliminating the possibility of an unbroken wall of towers along Queen's Quay. Postcard views are important.


https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/95/ca/84/toronto-skyline-from.jpg

http://travellingboomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Toronto-Island1.jpg

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/95/ca/84/toronto-skyline-from.jpg
 
This view probably isn't popular here, but with two parks just across the street, this new park seems unnecessary. Those parks are underutilized. Development here with good north-south connections as mentioned would do better at animating this stretch, potentially with retail, restaurants to draw people to the area. It would also help minimize the effect of the Gardiner. The stormwater storage tank could be incorporated into the development. The money raised form selling this parcel could have gone toward many better uses in my opinion.
 
bgobgo said:
If there is a park, I echo neuhaus' comment that the connections north are key. How about a pedestrian bridge OVER the Gardiner that connects this space to the future Copeland Transformer park. Make it a landmark destination with a lookout where you can view the water to the south, downtown to the north, and the traffic down below both east and west. Create stepped seating like Highline's 10th Avenue amphitheater. (See image attached).

With that being said, with the future improvements to the former York offramp area, the Jack Layton Ferry area overhaul, and the other parks going up near the waterfront, do we need another park here? If I'm down by the waterfront, I'm going to head to the waterfront and not next to the Gardiner. Instead, build a landmark and create a pedestrian bridge is the way to go.

Place the landmark building at the west side of this site than have my proposed bridge going from eastern side of this site northeast over the Gardiner to Copeland Transformer area. Would truly have wonderful views of HTO Park and the water to the South and connects very nicely with the elevated Copeland Transformer area on the North side.

Here is a rough 360 degree view from the Gardiner of HTO and the downtown...

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/43.6...4!1sUMv4LjIURz3TnqKY_Js3gQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Click to expand...
The pedestrian bridge over the Gardiner would be so high that I cannot image that many people would ever climb up one side and then down the other.

maestro said:
There's not much they can do with Lower Simcoe but all the other street crossings have been greatly improved over the course of the last five years. They feel much safer and look a lot better. All the right turn lanes have been removed for wider sidewalks, shorter crossings and even some landscaping.
Click to expand...

Lower Simcoe has changed a lot recently and will continue to. The Gardiner above is significantly narrower now that the York-Bay-Yonge off-ramp is gone, so that spot is far less dark. The new challenge will be the crossing the extra lanes of traffic from the new off-ramp that's coming. It remains to be seen what light-timing will be like here.

42
 
True. The aesthetics are being improved over at Lower Simcoe however, other crossings have been significantly calmed with wider sidewalks and shortened crossings through the elimination of the expansive right turn lanes. It's one of those little things most people won't notice compared to the removal of the off ramp but has a much larger impact.
 
If this is just another grass & trees park, I can't see this being very popular, when you have parks right on the lake, just across the street. All you need to do is take a short walk over to Sherbourne Park to see how popular the north and south parts of that park are. I almost never see anyone in the park on the north side of Queens Quay and that's because they are all on the south side, beside the lake. Just because you throw down some grass & trees, it doesn't mean people will come. Take a look at June Collwood Park, which has been open a few years and is still empty even on warn summer days. That might be because there is a very nice park just across the road, on the lake.

People are naturally drawn to the waterfront and if given the choice of two parks beside the water or across the street, they always choose the park located on the lake. If this park is going to be successful at all, it has to have something major, to draw people in and away from the water. Grass and trees with a few benches, just will not cut it. I think this area needs buildings to make it a year-round destination and NO, I do not mean condos! At least in the north part of the park, I would like to see a public amenity or a cultural building blocking out the Gardiner. A new tourist attraction would also help the area become more animated and lively.
 
I agree with others saying a park is not really necessary here. Personally I see it as a great location for a real public square, the kind we don't have in the city yet, lined with restaurants and pubs with large patios and spaces for food trucks or farmers market stalls. I think this is a prime location for such a square due to its proximity to so many major attractions like the Skydome, CN Tower and the Lake, there's also a lack of higher quality food/drink establishments nearby. Maybe stick a skating rink and a beavertail shack in there for the winter to keep things lively.
 
I wonder if there might be an opportunity in locating a market structure on part of the site.
 
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