Toronto Wellesley on the Park | 194.15m | 60s | Lanterra | KPMB

What about a scaled down variation of 3D's incredible 'Cathedral Square'? I was always a huge fan of that idea and his lovely design. Of course, the name would have to be changed, and the density scaled back a bit, but it would satisfy everyone's needs I think.
 
From: http://www.xtra.ca/public/Toronto/WongTam_wants_residents_to_occupy_Wellesley_Park-11958.aspx

Wong-Tam wants residents to 'occupy' Wellesley Park
NEIGHBOURHOOD / A 'battle royale' to reclaim two-acre site at 11 Wellesley: Murray
By Rob Salerno / Toronto / Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Some provincial ministers are quietly working toward creating a large urban park on the provincially owned lands at 11 Wellesley St W, a two-acre site that stretches to Breadalbane St between Yonge and Bay streets.

The vacant area has languished behind construction hording for more than a decade but was once home to a beloved city skate park. The province took over the site in the 1980s in order to build a magnificent opera building, but that project was cancelled.

Parcels of the land were later sold to developers who built skyscrapers on its Bay St side. The remaining land is now co-owned by the province and Morguard, who have been mired in a legal dispute over further development.

Toronto Centre MPP and cabinet minister Glen Murray says he’s successfully lobbied cabinet to remove the site from the province’s for-sale list, but there remains considerable skepticism about turning the site – which he estimates could be worth $150 million – into a public park.

“The battle royale is going on in my own government on 11 Wellesley,” Murray told a Church-Wellesley Community Planning Meeting he cohosted with Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam on May 7.

“Mostly the battle is getting the development community engaged to step back,” Murray says. “Part of the challenge is how to disengage the partnership with Morguard, and part of that’s with reasonable agreements elsewhere.”

Murray later said that could involve the city or province allowing Morguard to develop properties elsewhere.

“It’ll take generosity on all sides to make it work,” he says.

But Wong-Tam says any compromise can’t involve the city being forced to pay for the land.

“Asking us to pay for it is ridiculous. All we want is a little park,” Wong-Tam says. “We have the money to design, build and maintain the park if the province will unlock that land.”

Wong-Tam publicly advocated for residents to force the issue by occupying the park themselves.

“If residents want to take charge, I say take down that fence,” she says. “For 10 years we’ve lived with that hording. For 10 years we could’ve had a park.”

Support for turning the site into a park is strong among community groups, Murray said. The plan has been endorsed by several neighbourhood associations, including Church-Wellesley, Bay-Cloverhill and Greater Yorkville.

Murray says residents who want the site turned into a park should email him a testimonial that he can show to his cabinet colleagues. He says some other cabinet ministers, including Municipal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne and Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli have expressed support for turning the land into a park.
 
less condos = more tract housing on former farmland = bad news
 
I'm just speaking the language of the previous poster…

…which was brief, to the point, used an equals sign, and to my mind a major simplification of the situation.

I don't understand why these things are always approached by politicians as either/or. Why not dedicate some of it as parkland, and some of it as development land? As I've stated before in this thread, the buildings surrounding this space are not designed in a way that would make parkland here attractive without some screening - by new buildings which could be specifically designed to face a new park. Line the east side of the land with a mid-rise condo, and finish off the podium at the northwest corner of the site with something attractive, and you'll have a park in the remaining space that feels welcoming, and not some afterthought.

42
 
I'm just speaking the language of the previous poster…

…which was brief, to the point, used an equals sign, and to my mind a major simplification of the situation.

I don't understand why these things are always approached by politicians as either/or. Why not dedicate some of it as parkland, and some of it as development land? As I've stated before in this thread, the buildings surrounding this space are not designed in a way that would make parkland here attractive without some screening - by new buildings which could be specifically designed to face a new park. Line the east side of the land with a mid-rise condo, and finish off the podium at the northwest corner of the site with something attractive, and you'll have a park in the remaining space that feels welcoming, and not some afterthought.

42

I've always thought of developing the north portion along Wellesley to keep the street animated (with some retail/restaurants) and then the remaining 1/2 or 3/4 of property for parkland which would face the parkette on the south side of Breadalbane. It would get a lot more sun that way (morning and afternoon) however the east side is pretty unsightly so perhaps a midrise there is an option, I'd just think it a shame to have a park that only gets 3 or 4 hours of mid-day sun.
 
I'm just speaking the language of the previous poster…

…which was brief, to the point, used an equals sign, and to my mind a major simplification of the situation.

I don't understand why these things are always approached by politicians as either/or. Why not dedicate some of it as parkland, and some of it as development land? As I've stated before in this thread, the buildings surrounding this space are not designed in a way that would make parkland here attractive without some screening - by new buildings which could be specifically designed to face a new park. Line the east side of the land with a mid-rise condo, and finish off the podium at the northwest corner of the site with something attractive, and you'll have a park in the remaining space that feels welcoming, and not some afterthought.

42

I've always thought that this land should have many uses (I still think an underground parking lot should be built under the park) and I think a multi-use building should be added to either the north or south end of the space - a warming house in the winter, public washroom, etc.

I really disagree that some kind of mid-rise building should go here. This neighbourhood has seen and will see a massive influx of residents with no new amenities added (there is no community centre here, no library). There will only be more pressure here for more tall buildings. Why should we squander the last large empty space for some mid-rise building? That is not how you build a city for longevity. It is way too shortsighted.
 
why not a European-style public plaza with fountains, surrounded on its perimeter by small retail shops? I don't think a park is needed here with Queen's Park so close..
 
why not a European-style public plaza with fountains, surrounded on its perimeter by small retail shops? I don't think a park is needed here with Queen's Park so close..

That would do a great job of bridging Yonge and Bay, which each feel like totally different worlds.
 

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