HtO Park (Central Waterfront)

[Torontovibe]

The original design of this park included a splash pad but it was cancelled at the last minute, to save money. Both Sugar Beach and Sherbourne Common have splash pads but of course, those are on the east side. Canoe Landing Park, just north of H2O also has a splash pad and it's not too far away. It seems like all the newer parks contain the splash pads. Don River Park and Nathan Phillip's Square will both have them. They must be cheap to build. (well, cheaper than a proper fountain anyway)

 

[UrbanHarbour]

Was there ever a plan to extend HtO to the North side of Queens Quay? The new tower proposal for Maple Leaf Quay got me wondering what could happen with the surface lot next door.

 

[DSC]

Was there ever a plan to extend HtO to the North side of Queens Quay? The new tower proposal for Maple Leaf Quay got me wondering what could happen with the surface lot next door.

Not as such BUT that lot (owned, I think, by Harbourfront) is planned as a park 'when we get some money".

 

[NBGtect]

We need more rich families in Toronto to donate millions of dollars to these types of things, with a trust set up to maintain them. We have been getting some high-profile donations, so this is a good sign that people are slowly realizing how important our public realm is and it isn't just gravy; it's essential to urban health and prosperity and does cost money.

 

[MetroMan]

Was there ever a plan to extend HtO to the North side of Queens Quay? The new tower proposal for Maple Leaf Quay got me wondering what could happen with the surface lot next door.

View attachment 66696

Yes. That's going to be a north extension to HTO Park. There have been some recent discussions about it at Waterfront Toronto so I think that we'll start hearing about actual plans soon.

The next wave of projects are looking for funding and Waterfront Toronto has totally proven itself so I think the funding will be coming. The foot of Yonge Street and its wave deck, the new Ferry Terminal, the Portland wave deck, bridges across the quays, and HTO Park North are some of the projects awaiting funding.

 

[MetroMan]

I'd like to see a long art piece run the length of the park to block off the Gardiner. Perhaps a water feature to also drown out the Gardiner and Lake Shore traffic noise. A large scale splash pad like Crown Fountain in Chicago could work here.

So far, despite so much great work by Waterfront Toronto, these beaches without access to the lake, these wavedecks that dip just barely above the water without touching it, these views of the lake without ever being able to swim in it... They're all a big tease to what's still missing.

 

[ehlow]

Yes. That's going to be a north extension to HTO Park. There have been some recent discussions about it at Waterfront Toronto so I think that we'll start hearing about actual plans soon.

The next wave of projects are looking for funding and Waterfront Toronto has totally proven itself so I think the funding will be coming. The foot of Yonge Street and its wave deck, the new Ferry Terminal, the Portland wave deck, bridges across the quays, and HTO Park North are some of the projects awaiting funding.

I hope bridges across the quays happens, it would be a fantastic walk through all the parks, beaches & cultural centres.

 

[interchange42]

I am hoping for a design competition on this site.

Personally I'd like something that rises gradually up towards the Gardiner, a garage hidden under a landscaped park essentially. Build a large enough garage here, and then they can close and redevelop at least some of the garage at Lower Simcoe from which we've been taking pics of the Ten York construction lately.

Annual maintenance costs for the park could come out of the garage's revenues, with a legal document stating such, so that a park here would not suffer the same lack of funding that plagues Toronto's parks overall. It's Harbourfront Centre land, so possibly that will be easy to accomplish? Someone else will know more about that than I!

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