Toronto Ontario Place | ?m | ?s | Infrastructure ON

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...e_remake_to_feature_free_waterfront_park.html

So the 7.5 acre park will be open for competition among landscape architects next month with a winning bid chosen this fall. They expect the park to be open for the 2015 games. No word on the rest of Ontario Place other than reiterating that there will be some form of residential construction (no more than 15% of the park), and that we're not likely to see much before 2017.

I was hoping for a bit more from this announcement.
 
raptor said:
obert Benzie ‏@robertbenzie 2m

Government will convert up to 7.5 acres of #OntarioPlace into green space. Beginnings of a new waterfront park and trail. #onpoli
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So, basically, the Liberals gave us nothing, just more of what we already have down there. (Green space) What'a east & west of Ontario Place? Marilyn Bell Park, Coronation Park and Battery Park. (as well as other parks very close by) Ontario Place already has lots of green space, so why do we need more, when most of what we have, goes unused most of the time?

I guess the government chose the cheapest option, which was to plant some grass and a few trees and call it a day. And we still might get condos? Oh hell no! I am not happy at all. So what's going to happen to the attractions in Ontario Place? What about it being a year round attraction? What about a direct streetcar line? What about linking the CNE to OP?

We waited all this time for nothing. What a huge disappointment this is.
 
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Agreed, but that's their version of seeking input I guess.

Edit: From the website: http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/ontarioplace/ontarioplace.shtml
Give us your feedback through our survey on what is important to you in a park. Help us create an urban park and trail that you can enjoy. Please complete the survey by July 31 so that the results can be shared with the shortlisted landscape architect teams as they consider their designs.
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Yeah, that survey is useless. We already went through all this with the last site they had, asking us what we wanted. (and which the government chose to ignore) Most people wanted things that cost money, which our government doesn't want to spend.
 
They already sought public input through Tory's work and report. We are going around in circles now.
 
Isn't the park only going to be on a small portion of the site ? The unused parking lot from what I read ? How much is 7 acres.
 
My take on this: if they turn a parking lot into passive parkland, then that's one parking lot that will not become a wall of condominiums next time the government needs to make a quick buck. When the opportunity arises, we can always build some kind of landmark amenity onto the parkland.

All of our best landmarks and public institutions began with a strong mission statement that addressed a real public need, and the land/buildings came afterwards (e.g. our museums, galleries, universities, civic centres, theatres, etc). When we have a bunch of land that we don't know what to do with, we usually end up with some wishy-washy cultural programming mixed with a bunch of privatization (e.g. Harbourfront centre). There will be a need in the future to house collections of art and artifacts, to build educational institutions, and sports facilities, etc. If nothing like that happens to exist now, then we should make sure this valuable land is passed down to the next general so that they can do something great with it.
 
S&M:

When the opportunity arises, we can always build some kind of landmark amenity onto the parkland.
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Probably not easy in practice, particularly for a choice site like this one - there will be no shortage of resistance once the area has been turned into a publically owned green space, and without a doubt politicians will take the path of least resistance (i.e. keep it as a park).

AoD
 
I don't think it would be that hard to redesign passive parkland to accommodate a new public amenity. Parks are changed all the time to accommodate new uses. Are there fights? Of course. But those are fights we would never have a chance to engage in if the land ended up in private hands.

And depending on which level of government retains ownership over the land, the local neighbourhood might have very little say in the matter.
 
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