The rebuild of a Downtown Toronto park is progressing just northwest of the Yonge and Gerrard intersection. The Barbara Ann Scott Skate Trail at the College Park Revitalization is replacing a previous 0.75 hectare-public space, originally constructed on top of an underground parking garage in the mid-1980s. Years of wear on the garage roof meant that it needed re-waterproofing, and the existing park had to go to accomplish that. The park needed a refresh anyway.

College Park landscape master plan, image via City of Toronto

Demolition of the previous park and repairs to the garage roof membrane began in 2016 and wrapped up this past February. With $3M secured for the park rebuild from Section 37 and 45(9) agreements between Canderel and the City of Toronto—tied to the adjacent 78-storey Aura development—and another $2.5 million coming from the City, construction of the new park—featuring design work by architects RAW Design and landscape architects The MBTW Group | W Architect Inc—has been progressing in the months since.

Construction at College Park, image by Forum contributor drum118

The park's signature piece will be its new skating trail (Barbara Ann Scott was, after all, an Olympic and World Champion skater), replacing the rink which closed in 2012. Following some of the new walkways going in, the kidney-shaped, five-metre-wide trail is now coming together.

Facing west over College Park, image by Greg Lipinski

At the northeast corner of the trail, the first forms are now in place for a service building, set to house a warming area where skaters can lace up, a family-style washroom, a small office, and a Zamboni garage. The skating trail will be connected to the service building with a rubberized surface, allowing skaters to move freely between the trail and service building without damaging their skate blades.

Forming for the service building at College Park, image by Forum contributor drum118

At the interior of the skate trail's loop, a series of shallow oval-shaped indents can be seen in the ground. These indents mark the future location of some of the park’s planted berms, which will create small oases of green within the skate trail’s perimeter.

Barbara Ann Scott skate trail at College Park, image by Greg Lipinski

The Barbara Ann Scott skate trail at College Park is on track for a 2018 opening.

The new College Park, image via City of Toronto

Additional information and renderings of the rebuilt park can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.