Dufferin Grove Park | |
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Type | Public Park |
Location | Toronto, Ontario |
Coordinates | 43°39′22″N79°25′57″W / 43.656167°N 79.432483°W |
Operated by | City of Toronto |
Public transit access | Dufferin |
Dufferin Grove Park is a park in the Dufferin Grove neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park is located on the east side of Dufferin Street, south of Bloor Street West. It is located a block south of the Dufferin subway station and across the street from Dufferin Mall. The park extends two city blocks east and is primarily green-space with mixed open space and treed areas.
The park features a large playground, a wading pool, a pizza oven, a basketball court, and an outdoor ice skating rink in the winter. There is also an organic farmers' market at the park on Thursday afternoons from 3-7 o'clock. [1] The Park has been set up for wireless Internet usage. [2] The park is home to the Clay & Paper Theatre which stages outdoor plays in the summer as well as special events at other times of the year. Amenities include a volleyball net, ping-pong table, and skating rink. The park has trees and grass, benches and picnic tables.
The park is situated on one part of the ravine of Denison Creek, a fork of the former Garrison Creek. In the south-west quadrant of the park, along Dufferin, a section of the ravine remains, minus the creek, which was filled in long ago. The waters of the creek are diverted into a trunk sewer that runs under Dufferin Avenue, then under Sylvan Street. [3] An interpretative display is provided.
In 1998 artist Gene Threndyle in partnership with the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park created a series of gardens and a fountain marking the path of Denison Creek. [4] As part of the installation, a set of large architectural ruins were relocated from High Park to Dufferin Grove Park. These ruins were identified in 2020 by artist and amateur historian Andrew Lochhead, and confirmed by Threndyle, as the long-lost remains of the second Toronto Custom House (1876-1919) designed by Richard Windeyer. [5] The ruins, mostly keystones and some capitals, represent one of the few remaining local examples of the work of one of nineteenth century Ontario's most important and prolific architects. [6]
Following the demolition of the Custom House in 1909 the ruins were incorporated into the Colonial (later renamed The Bay)Theatre, one of Toronto's first purpose built cinemas. When the theatre was demolished in 1966 the keystones - their origins shrouded in mystery - were meant to be installed into the facade of the Simpson Tower. [7] However this plan was not realized and the ruins were transported to High Park and installed as ornamentation prior to being moved to Dufferin Grove.
High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. High Park is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One-third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology. High Park was opened to the public in 1876 and is based on a bequest of land from John George Howard to the City of Toronto. It spans 161 hectares and is one of the largest parks in Toronto.
Etobicoke Creek is a river in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of Lake Ontario and runs from Caledon to southern Etobicoke, part of the City of Toronto. The creek is within the jurisdiction of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named after Nathan Phillips, mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. The square was designed by the City Hall's architect Viljo Revell and landscape architect Richard Strong. It opened in 1965. The square is the site of concerts, art displays, a weekly farmers' market, the winter festival of lights, and other public events, including demonstrations. During the winter months, the reflecting pool is converted into an ice rink for ice skating. The square attracts an estimated 1.5 million visitors yearly. With an area of 4.85 hectares, it is Canada's largest city square.
Bathurst Manor is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in northern Toronto in the former suburb of North York. It sits on a plateau bounded on the north by Finch Avenue West, on the west by Dufferin Street, on the east by the Don River, and on the south by Sheppard Avenue West. The area is also regarded as part of the Downsview postal area as designated by Canada Post. It is part of the former city of North York, which merged with five other municipalities and a regional government to form the new "City of Toronto" in 1998. It is part of the federal and provincial electoral district York Centre, and Toronto electoral ward 10: York Centre (East). In 2006, it had a population of 14,615.
Garrison Creek was a short stream about 7.7 kilometres (4.8 mi) long that flowed southeast into the west side of Toronto Harbour in Ontario, Canada. It has been largely covered over and filled in, but geographical traces of the creek can still be found, including the natural amphitheatre known as Christie Pits and the off-leash dog "bowl" of Trinity Bellwoods Park. The name "Garrison Creek" was used because Fort York was built near the creek mouth. Volunteers lead popular tours of the course of the old watershed.
Trinity Bellwoods Park is a public park located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, bordered by Queen Street West on the south and Dundas Street on the north. The western boundary of the park is Crawford Street, several hundred feet before Crawford intersects with Dundas St. West, the park juts toward Shaw Street, westside of the Crawford Street Bridge. Most of the park's area lies in the original Garrison Creek ravine and this creek, now a buried city storm sewer, still flows beneath the park from the northwest to the southeast corners.
College Street is a principal arterial thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, Canada, connecting former streetcar suburbs in the west with the city centre. The street is home to an ethnically diverse population in the western residential reaches, and institutions like the Ontario Legislature and the University of Toronto in the downtown core. At Yonge Street, College continues to the east as Carlton Street.
Dufferin Street is a major north–south street in Toronto, Vaughan and King, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, two concessions (4 km) west of Yonge Street. The street starts at Exhibition Place, continues north to Toronto's northern boundary at Steeles Avenue with some discontinuities and continues into Vaughan, where it is designated York Regional Road 53. The street is named for Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1872 to 1878. Prior to 1878, the street was labelled as Western City Limits or Sideline Road south off Bloor. In 2003 and 2007, it was voted as one of "Ontario's Worst 20 Roads" in the Ontario's Worst Roads poll organized by the Canadian Automobile Association.
College Park is a shopping mall, residential and office complex on the southwest corner of Yonge and College streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Forks is a historic site, meeting place, and green space in downtown Winnipeg located at the confluence of the Red River and the Assiniboine River.
Dufferin Grove is a neighbourhood located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, west of downtown. The neighbourhood is bordered by Bloor Street West to the north, Ossington Ave to the east, College Street to the south, and Dufferin Street to the west.
Castle Frank Brook is a buried creek and south-west flowing tributary of the Don River in central and north-western Toronto, Ontario, originating near the intersection of Lawrence Avenue and Dufferin Street.
Harlem Meer is a man-made lake at the northeast corner of New York City's Central Park. It lies west of Fifth Avenue, south of 110th Street, and north of the Conservatory Garden, near the Harlem and East Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan. The lake, as originally constructed, was 12.634 acres (51,130 m2), but after the completion in 1966 of the Lasker skating rink and swimming pool, it was reduced to approximately 11 acres (45,000 m2) in area and approximately 0.75 miles (1.21 km) in circumference.
Dufferin Park Racetrack was a racetrack for thoroughbred horse races located on Dufferin Street in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was demolished in 1955 and its stakes races moved to Woodbine Racetrack as part of a consolidation of racetracks in the Toronto area. The track was owned by Abe Orpen and his family after his death. Only 0.5 miles (0.80 km) in length, it was also called Little Saratoga. The site is now a shopping centre.
Guild Park and Gardens is a public park in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park was formerly the site of an artist colony and is notable for its collection of relics saved from the demolition of buildings primarily in downtown Toronto arranged akin to ancient ruins. Located on the Scarborough Bluffs, Guild Park and Gardens has an outdoor Greek stage and a 19th-century log cabin among the oldest in Toronto. The principal building in the park is the Guild Inn, a former inn and estate mansion.
The Toronto waterway system comprises a series of natural and man-made watercourses in the Canadian city of Toronto. The city is dominated by a large river system spanning most of the city including the Don River, Etobicoke Creek, Highland Creek, Humber River, Mimico Creek and Rouge River.