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Just northwest of Yonge and Gerrard in Downtown Toronto, finishing touches are being applied to the revitalization of a major public space. College Park's long-overdue makeover kicked off in early 2016 with the former park's demolition and removal—the park is built over an underground garage which had to be re-waterproofed, requiring its roof to be exposed for work—and in the over two years since, the park's new design by landscape architects The MBTW Group and architects RAW Design has been almost fully realized.
With 2018 now winding down, the park has taken on the features of the pre-construction diagrams and renderings, and the final touches are now being put in place to prepare for the park's opening. Practically all of the hardscaping and softscaping work is complete, with work now wrapping up on the southern and eastern arms that respectively provide pedestrian access from Gerrard and Yonge streets. While the pre-2016 version of the park included a summertime reflecting pool which turned skating rink in the winter, by the end of 2017, features of the rebuilt park were evident, including the first signs of the park's replacement skate trail—to be named, like the old rink was, for Olympian Barbara Ann Scott. Now, a pavilion, playground, lawns, gardens, and walking paths are all in place.
The upgraded park is being funded through $3M in Section 37 and 45(9) agreements between the City and Canderel, who developed the adjacent 78-storey Aura project. A schedule for the project included on the City's website states that the park is expected to open by the end of the year, opening up the Downtown skating venue just in time for winter.
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.
| Related Companies: | RAW Design |
