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Not even the rain could stop the people of Toronto from feeling the love today, as a crowd of hundreds gathered at the waterfront to celebrate the grand opening of the highly-anticipated Love Park. After more than two years of construction, the romantic design from CCxA has finally been brought to life, and with families, couples, and pets all getting comfortable around the heart-shaped pond, iconic enough in concept that the freshly opened park is already becoming one of the most revered Toronto public improvement projects in recent memory.
The opening celebration for the joint City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto project kicked off at noon in a grand fashion, with live music from a string trio and family games like a scavenger hunt. By 1 PM, the program of speeches began, with Toronto City Councillor for Ward 10, Ausma Malik, serving as the MC.
Among the various speakers Malik invited to the podium, Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie’s words did well to capture the sentiment of the day. “Love Park is a space like no other, from the signature heart shaped pond to its lush tree canopy,” she said. “This park would not have been possible without the incredible community partners who worked to make this labour of love a reality. This work and these investments are transforming Toronto’s waterfront and will continue to enhance it as a top destination to live, work, and play for years to come.”
Returning to the podium before the ceremonial ribbon cutting, Malik took a moment to reflect on the incredible transformation that saw Love Park created where an off-ramp of the Gardiner Expressway once stood. “It’s hard to believe that not long ago, we would have been standing under a part of the Gardiner Expressway,” she said. “This was an ambitious vision, taking obsolete transport infrastructure, redesigning it, and opening up the full potential of what was then called the York Offramp Park. It truly deserves a new name now, wouldn’t you agree?”
Following the ribbon cutting, we had a chance to speak with the project’s lead designer, Claude Cormier, to discuss this unique public project in greater depth. As an celebrated landscape architect with an extensive body of work already embedded in the fabric of Toronto, Cormier told us that the primary motivation behind Love Park was to bring positivity and joy to a city that is often burdened by the weight of complex social issues.
“We felt a sense of darkness in the city, sadness and negativity, and we wanted to bring a notion of optimism and hope, especially after Covid,” he explained. “It’s a beautiful design but today we are seeing beautiful people. You can just feel the way that they are so happy, and I think they got the message of what we wanted to do. Positive urban space made with a feeling of love.”
Speaking about what he is most excited about with the completion of Love Park, “For me it’s the pond,” Cormier said. “With the seating, with the mosaic, it creates this magical element and it works. You get the name, you get the park, and you get the movement, and today we see how people are interacting and talking to each other. It’s an element of triangulation, it brings everybody together.”
Located at the northeast corner of York Street and Queens Quay West, Love Park is the latest addition to a total of 106-acres of parkland and public spaces lining Toronto’s Waterfront, planned and implemented by Waterfront Toronto. As the revitalization of the lakeshore continues to bring vibrancy and community programming to the waterfront, the excitement is slated to continue throughout the decade.
Several bronze animals can be found dotting the park's landscape. We included the chipmunk in today's Daily Photo, while you can find this beaver and several other of the animals in the various posts by UrbanToronto Forum contributors in the thread, starting here.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | CCxA |
