Toronto Rees Park Playground and Pavillion | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

MetroMan said:
I get that. The waterfall would’ve been (and can still be) a relatively good water play feature that could emulate this space without the LED art component in the monoliths. Water falls onto a square with a surrounding gutter that enables the formation of about half an inch of water that you can step in without getting wet or splash in if you’re in the mood to play. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

That said, being cheap demonstrates that Toronto still has a small city mentality and doesn’t understand the importance of forming spaces that will draw the attention of the world and benefit the city’s economy in ways that don’t traditionally fit on a spread sheet.
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They are having a seep wall/scrim fountain at the park. Potential elimination of the feature has to do with budget, not "design by committee". You want a better park - you will have to convince city council to pony up more - so if you want to lay blame, that's where you should dump on.

AoD
 
MetroMan said:
Right. I should’ve been more specific: I’m discussing the central waterfront that falls in the scope of Waterfront Toronto’s waterfront revitalization project.

I mean water play features. The omission of a large water feature that allows people to interact with water will eventually be noticed by future generations that look back at our waterfront redevelopment.

This could mean something as simple as a wading pool or if the waterfall at Rees Park was treated as a primary feature, a place where kids and adults could interact with water at different levels: either full on getting under the waterfall or simply getting your feet wet in a shallow pool that forms around it.

I always trot out the worldbest example of this, and I’ll do it again: Crown Fountain is a beloved icon of Chicago’s Millennium Park and that city has a similar climate to Toronto, so winter isn’t an excuse to omit water features.

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With great respect; and as someone who thinks we can and should strive higher in public realm and parks here, as in many other spheres.............

I don't share your enthusiasm for Crown Fountain (I see wasted energy and a dull space, but for the water feature itself. )

Be that as it may, Toronto already has oodles of interactive water features, here there and everywhere.

Splash pads and wading pools are not hard to find in this town.

I realize you're looking for something that makes a bigger statement and is interactive. I'm not sure I see the virtue in the combination in a downtown space, it's not that I oppose it; but I see no shortage of places one can get in the water in Toronto, in addition to the above noted, several beaches are on offer.

Ah well, we can vary in our preferences, nothing wrong w/that.

Though I really do wish people would stop holding up Chicago as an example in this way.

You know it's not to bash the place, it has many fine features, some unquestionably better than Toronto.

But....

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These are all Chicago's waterfront.

No, I didn't show the nicest spots.............but I didn't show the south side either.

These are consecutive shots on the downtown approach, and through same.

Yes Chicago has lovely spots; but it also has many that need a bit of work.

Let's not bash Toronto constantly.

Rees will be a nice space.

I'd prefer it with the waterfall.

I'd prefer it with real rock cladding on the ridge form.

But ya know....it is a parking lot today.

So I don't think we need to be too hard on the City and WT for the level of improvement being achieved.

****

However, endless bashing of the awful looking garbage and recycling receptacles in parks is to be encouraged; that we really do need to fix......what a detraction from otherwise nice spaces.
 
Ferris wheel, when did we get that? Wait, that building looks like the Harbor Point tower. What's going on he...

Northern Light said:
These are all Chicago's waterfront.
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...oh!!! NM! As you where! And I should learn to read before commenting on the post's content. >.<
 
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Sure would be cool to have a plaque honoring the person for whom the park is named.
He helped those who struggled in early Toronto.
Dr. William Rees: 1801-74
Rees St., near Spadina Ave. and Lake Shore Blvd., is named after William Rees (1800-1874) who founded the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in 1841. He offered free vaccinations and medical advice to the poor, and supported many causes over the years.
More here: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rees_william_10E.html
 
Towered said:
Toronto gonna Toronto. Sad that the voters are totally ok with it.
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People with money who are resistant to proactive change. And they turn around and call us elitist in the insult to injury...

...but I digress. As I agree...as none of this is really surprising in the least. /sigh
 
tombrownca said:
View attachment 422382
Sure would be cool to have a plaque honoring the person for whom the park is named.
He helped those who struggled in early Toronto.
Dr. William Rees: 1801-74
Rees St., near Spadina Ave. and Lake Shore Blvd., is named after William Rees (1800-1874) who founded the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in 1841. He offered free vaccinations and medical advice to the poor, and supported many causes over the years.
More here: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rees_william_10E.html
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Yes, Dr Rees is an interesting fellow and certainly deserves a plaque. To add to your info, the Dictionary of Canadian Biography goes on to say:

"In the course of his duties Rees received a blow on the head from one of the inmates, an injury which left him with greatly impaired eyesight and incapable of performing his duties or returning to private practice. He was replaced as superintendent of the asylum by Dr Walter Telfer in 1844 and thereafter lived in semi-retirement in his cottage on the waterfront adjacent to his wharf. He wrote frequently to the government seeking a pension in compensation for the time spent in organizing the asylum and for the injury he had suffered, or proposing administrative reforms and an appointment for himself in connection with the proposed changes. Although he had the support of a majority in the legislature, his efforts to obtain a government appointment were unsuccessful and the only compensation he received was a lump sum of $1,000 in 1864."

He was not universally appreciated, and the DCB entry notes "Clarke Gamble stated that Rees “was a learned man on some things, but an eccentric and most sanguine man,” and added “he was appointed to the superintendence and management thereof upon the principle, I suppose, of setting a madman to watch a madman.” On the other hand, Rees’ superintendence of the asylum was commended by a number of British and American medical authorities and Henry Scadding informed Canniff that “he was of a speculative disposition, and a man of unusual intelligence.” In supporting his application for a pension the Dominion Medical Journal referred to him as “one of the oldest and most respected practitioners in this Province.”

His wharf was close to the future park. (This is from an 1857 map of Toronto, the Esplanade originally also ran west of Yonge.)

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Sigh, in the docs linked by @AlvinofDiaspar above........the first thing of substance we learn is that the construction schedule has slipped, yet again...... with work not contemplated to begin until 2024:

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Also noted, the project, which was already severely challenged to have scope match budget is no longer fully funded, as everyone concedes the park simply can't be built for the existing allotted funds.

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Also noted are those design elements believed to be in need of attention:


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There are lots of renders in the package, though some are of previous iterations, but a few are below:

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The below slide outlines the tree planting plan:

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The colour palette will be very bold in fall, Red Maple and Red Oak would be among the bright reds, Honey Locust anchoring the yellows and year-round green from Red Cedar.

The latter is most thoughtful choice in that it's very urban tolerant. It will still be severely challenged up at the same level as the Gardiner, but may just make it (if it doesn't, there wont' be many better choices, though I might think about mixing in a few White Spruce as hedge of bets).

I'd like to see some Sugar Maple in w/the Reds, I think they actually do better in urban areas than reds if giving good planting conditions and the look is spectacular in a good fall.

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And we'll wrap this post, w/this gem of render. I'll tell everyone now this is ambitious to achieve, but I applaud the vision:

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There's some quite angular/hill structures they want to build this park in part upon. At least what I get from looking at this all from a glance...

...and that paper is quite the dissertation though, goodness!
 
UtakataNoAnnex said:
There's some quite angular/hill structures they want to build this park in part upon. At least what I get from looking at this all from a glance...
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Yes, the intent is to create a ridge structure ( a faux Scarborough Bluff if you would) in order to hide the Gardiner Expressway from view and act as a noise barrier as well.

At the same time it would also be accessible, allowing large views out to the Lake.
 
I'm not in love with this.... That's a lot of lawn, that will receive little to no shade for many years until the trees begin to really mature. It's also a huge uninterrupted expanse with minimal connections from the sidewalk to the paths along the base of the "ridge". I can already see desire lines forming here. I'm also worried about having lawn space abutting the sidewalk with no curb or separation - wouldn't the soil along the sidewalk edges just become compacted or too saturated with salt for any grass to thrive there? Specifically worried about the area where the lawn comes to a point at the southwestern corner of the park.

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I'm no pro but I took a crack at how they could break up that lawn a bit - I think continuing the benches all along the sidewalk frontage will help reduce wear on the grass, and some openings would help prevent desire lines forming and still allow views to the ridge feature beyond

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