Toronto Ontario Place | ?m | ?s | Infrastructure ON

Ramako said:
At the meeting tonight, they emphasized that they're still early in the process, and they encouraged as many people as possible to send in their feedback on what kind of park they'd like to see. I'd recommend sending in your thoughts: http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/ontarioplace/park_trails.shtml
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Thanks, I already did that, as well as phone a number of politician's offices. I may not get what I want but I certainly won't shut up about it. lol
 
The park certainly feels like it was designed on the cheap. Not surprising in an era of North America austerity. The question that needs to be ask though is- how much of the rest of Ontario Place are we keeping, and how much are we developing? I hope it'll only be the parking spaces on the mainland, and not the islands themselves.
 
RiverCity1 said:
It's fine to be bored with the presentation materials...but that's why you can submit your comments for improvement by Feb 21st. This is a public process, after all. I always wonder how so many people can complain after the fact when they could have been actively involved. Apathy gets you nowhere in life. A parking lot turned into greenspace = a very good thing :D
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Appreciate your thoughts on this but I believe that there are times you need to put your faith and trust to the experts and professionals (in this case designers, engineers, landscapers, etc) as I am not an expert in this field. I have my own job to do and as much as I would like to contribute I couldn't. But I do appreciate great parks when I see one (Central Park, Chicago's Millineum Park, etc). Are they all built from suggestions from public input? I doubt it. We have the luxury of having great ideas from these parks as examples, and yet we still end up with a larger and glorified Canada Square. A bit disappointed I would say.
 
Having been involved in both private and public planning meetings, I can tell you that the public input is VERY important. Without it, functionality risks getting lost. The realities of how garbage cans are emptied, where dogs will run loose, what children will climb on, etc. get lost in the dream. Planners will talk about sightlines and form, parents will talk about swing sets. The two can successfully be brought together, but it takes input.
 
The problem is (in my mind), this area has very little residential around it, and without some kind of draw I don't see a lot of people visiting. Ontario Place was popular because there were a lot of great activities going on. Without something like that this park is going to be even emptier Canada and Ontario squares, no matter how pretty it ends up being, and I'm afraid that whatever is built here is going to be used as a template for the rest of the park. It doesn't have to be rides and water-slides, but maybe a fountain and splash pad that turns into a huge outdoor skating rink in the winter... add in a large public square with a farmers market, outdoor cafes and sculpture/art that plays off the cinesphere and pods.
 
ttk77 said:
The problem is (in my mind), this area has very little residential around it, and without some kind of draw I don't see a lot of people visiting. Ontario Place was popular because there were a lot of great activities going on. Without something like that this park is going to be even emptier Canada and Ontario squares, no matter how pretty it ends up being, and I'm afraid that whatever is built here is going to be used as a template for the rest of the park. It doesn't have to be rides and water-slides, but maybe a fountain and splash pad that turns into a huge outdoor skating rink in the winter... add in a large public square with a farmers market, outdoor cafes and sculpture/art that plays off the cinesphere and pods.
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That's exactly it, you've hit the nail on the head. Why would someone travel the distance to get here, when there are probably closer parks that offer the same thing? East and west of this park you have Coronation Park, Battery Park and Marilyn Bell Park. All those parks offer grass, trees, a walking/cycling path, benches and waterfront views/access. So what does this new park at OP offer that the others don't? From the looks of it, it offers some art pieces and some rock installations. After you have seen the art and rocks once or twice, what will keep people coming back to this park? Why would somebody who lives in Fort York make the trek here, when Coronation Park is right across the street? Coronation Park also offers baseball diamonds and washrooms, so it actually has more amenities.

This new park doesn't offer access to the water or any water features at all. So in the summer time, when it's really hot, you are right beside a cool, giant lake but yet you have nowhere to cool off. ALL new parks should have some kind of cooling water feature, where kids and adults can get relief on really hot days.

If you want to attract more then a few people, you need to give people a reason to come here. This is the exact same problem with Canada/Ontario Square. They built it as cheaply as they could and nobody goes there. Even in the summer, when the Harbourfront promenade is animated with people, these squares remain empty. The only time those squares have significant usage is when they are programmed with events, which is probably less then 1% of the time. For the most part, at the present time, those parks go mostly unused. I fear pretty much the same thing will happen with OP, unless some serious attractions go into the park.

It's good to build passive parkland where it's needed but Toronto's waterfront is not that place. Our waterfront is lined with passive parkland. People who go there and use that parkland, already realize this. That being said, turning this land into parkland is a good thing, I just wish there were more amenities and indoor places to go along with it. I'd certainly like to see those huge parking lots put underground with something interesting put on top. (and no, not just more passive parkland) Give me a planetarium, museum, restaurants, music venue, festival centre, art gallery, sporting centre, amusements or something!

They better at least bring back the Cinesphere!
 
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During last night's session, the need to actually be able to "dip a toe" in the water was mentioned ... as was the need for washrooms! Hopefully the planners will listen.(another good example of why public input is important and it shouldn't just be left to the experts!)
 
I'm with Christopher Hume on this one. It's really just a small piece of the revitalization for the whole property; and it certainly gets the ball rolling here with an initial plan and an actual deadline for completion. I don't see anything presented which is either discouraging or predicting an epic fail in the grand scheme of things. That's a bit dramatic.

The existing waterfront trails are more than active and busy with rollerbladers, runners, and cyclists from all over; having an extra loop and change of scenery (which is away from traffic and off of Lakeshore) is very welcome indeed. Plus, guests at the new hotel will be drawn over to explore, I'm sure. It will be used. No question about that.
 
Torontovibe said:
How many parks do you see in Toronto like Golden Gate Park or Central Park? Those parks have theatres, art galleries, museums, great fountains, boat rentals, zoos and other fun things that people want to see and do. Where are our great active, animated, creative parks? We have lots of (grass & trees) parks for sports but what about art and culture? Do we have any culture parks? Sure, we have Harbourfront but that's not a park, it's a neighbourhood with some minor cultural/arts attractions. Yeah, I know, great cultural/arts parks cost money and we are so very poor.
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Ever been to Toronto Island?
 
salsa said:
Ever been to Toronto Island?
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Toronto Islands are nothing at all like those parks. Where do you see indoor amenities or cultural spaces in Centre Island? There are no real attractions on Centre Island besides a kiddie amusement park and it's a third rate one at that. It's funny how Toronto builds parks the same way Florida does. You would think with our cold climate we would design parks with some indoor spaces, where people could get warm. I'm sure parks would be much better used if we just put some thought into designing parks for our climate, focusing on year round use.
 
Torontovibe said:
Toronto Islands are nothing at all like those parks. Where do you see indoor amenities or cultural spaces in Centre Island? There are no real attractions on Centre Island besides a kiddie amusement park and it's a third rate one at that. It's funny how Toronto builds parks the same way Florida does. You would think with our cold climate we would design parks with some indoor spaces, where people could get warm. I'm sure parks would be much better used if we just put some thought into designing parks for our climate, focusing on year round use.
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Why do you have to be so negative about everything? If your idea of a park is a place to be indoors, then move to a different city.
 
It's a good point, though. Prominent green spaces are better with cultural institutions. Culture attracts a more diverse crowd and can help animate public spaces even when it's cold and fewer people are jogging and out for a walk.
 
The other point is that, this site is not 7.5 acres in isolation but rather part of a large-scale revitalization effort. Ontario Place already has, and will have more, cultural attractions. The only structures that I can see going into this new park plan would be washrooms; unless they can make use of the ones located in existing areas.
 
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