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Toronto Parks

Queen's Park (north) - Trees For Toronto

This is the first time I've seen these signs which I spotted at the south end of Queen's Park North today. More information on the history of Queen's Park and the "Trees For Toronto" program (which I think is a terrific initiative as well as being informative) can be found on the ROM's website -

http://www.rom.on.ca/collections/trees/


Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
Speaking of Queen's Park North, our mediocre park maintenance can be seen around the statue, with those generic, unpainted park benches, and the erosion around the plaque of the statue of King Edward VII. The soil just ends up on the paved pathway. However, other statues in park have been recently restored.
 
junctionist said:
Speaking of Queen's Park North, our mediocre park maintenance can be seen around the statue, with those generic, unpainted park benches, and the erosion around the plaque of the statue of King Edward VII. The soil just ends up on the paved pathway. However, other statues in park have been recently restored.
Click to expand...

Those benches have been in need of replacement for several years, two or three of them are missing pieces of wood and have pieces that are loose. The fountain at the south/west corner also needs some TLC. As for the erosion around the elevated statue of King Edward VII, I agree that this needs to be re-thought. There's constantly people climbing up the fairly steep grade to take photos, to sun themselves, to be "seen" and such putting a lot of wear and tear on the struggling grass that surrounds it. In the past two or three years I'm seeing many more large weekend events being held in Queen's Park north (which is a good thing) and that statue is a real draw for people to climb up. Short of re-grading it so it's not as steep I'm not sure what the answer is here, but it is something that should be looked at.
 
Fall in Queen's Park

I've debated for a couple of days whether to post these. The quality of the pictures suck because of the borrowed camera I'm using but I ultimately decided to put up a few that turned out OK.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

Queen's Park North -



Queen's Park South -

 
I wish the area around the Edward VII statue was taken better care of. It looks so half-assed sitting atop an uneven and eroding mound. The least we could do is make it look a bit more formal. It is essentially the province's most important building (outside of anything federal in Ottawa) so it's only fitting to make it look good.
 
jn_12 said:
I wish the area around the Edward VII statue was taken better care of. It looks so half-assed sitting atop an uneven and eroding mound. The least we could do is make it look a bit more formal. It is essentially the province's most important building (outside of anything federal in Ottawa) so it's only fitting to make it look good.
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Agreed! This was discussed in another thread recently. The grass doesn't last because so many people climb up on it to be photographed in front of it, kids play on the hill etc. so the grass doesn't have much of a chance, then the soil erodes when it rains where the grass has been badly trampled. The only solution I can think of is to remount it on an attractive, stepped podium or install a low attractive barred fence which I'm not so crazy about as it sends a negative "keep away" message.
 
Alexandra Park - July 20th

Back in August I fell behind updating Toronto parks that I documented over the summer so I'll finish up over the next couple of days. Next summer I'll be back at it searching out and photographing more downtown area parks.


Alexandra Park isn't one of the nicest parks I've come across but it's functional, has multiple amenities and appears to serve the community well. The pool and water features were closed and the grounds were a little ratty as these were taken during the Municipal strike

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
Bellevue Square Park - Aug. 13th

Located in the heart of Kensington Market

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
Sonya's Park - Aug. 1 2009

Another small parkette in Kensington Market on Oxford Street, just east of Augusta Ave. It seemed to me that a house used to be here and was turned into a parkette after being razed.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
Berczy Park - Aug. 1, 2009

Located in St. Lawrence Market between Front & Wellington Sts., just west of Church Street behind the Gooderham Building.


Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
Budd Sugarman Park - July 31, 2009

A small, polite, nicely manicured parkette located just south of Rosedale subway station on the east side of Yonge Street

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Agreed! This was discussed in another thread recently. The grass doesn't last because so many people climb up on it to be photographed in front of it, kids play on the hill etc. so the grass doesn't have much of a chance, then the soil erodes when it rains where the grass has been badly trampled. The only solution I can think of is to remount it on an attractive, stepped podium or install a low attractive barred fence which I'm not so crazy about as it sends a negative "keep away" message.
Click to expand...

Maybe a flowerbed could work here. Queen's Park could use more flowers anyway.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Thank you ever so much DT Geek. Your incredible diligence and fine eye benefit us all tremendously. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Thank you PE!

I've got 3 or 4 more parks left to put up which I'll get to in the next couple of days. Next June my quest for more great Toronto parks will continue along with a few which were suggested a few pages back (including by yourself) that I never made it to. I was down by the Sculpture Gardens again around mid-August but I'll be damned if I could find it!
 
Trinity Bellwoods Park - July 20, 2009

A wonderful, large, sprawling park in a great area of Queen West located about 1/2 a mile west of Bathurst between Queen and Dundas Sts. Everything a park should have is here, multiple baseball diamonds, cycling/jogging paths, tennis courts, a hockey rink, children's play area with splashpad, an off leash area for neighbourhood dogs to play, gardens, a community centre and more.
I spent several hours enjoying the people and the vibe in this park the afternoon that I photographed it.
The City workers strike was on when I took these photos.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
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