Love Park (Toronto)

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Love Park
Love Park Pool and Tree.jpg
Love Park (2023)
Toronto map.png
Red pog.svg
Location of Love Park in Toronto
Type Urban park
Location96 Queens Quay West,
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
Coordinates 43°38′27″N79°22′47″W / 43.6408°N 79.3798°W / 43.6408; -79.3798
Area2 acres (0.81 ha) [1]
Created2023 (2023)
Designer CCxA
Owned by City of Toronto
Operated by Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation
Website www.toronto.ca/love-park/

Love Park is a public park located in the South Core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Developed by Waterfront Toronto, and designed by CCxA, the park is operated by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation. [2] [3] Construction on Love Park began in July 2021, and the park officially opened on June 23, 2023. [4]

Contents

Project site

Love Park's site is the former plot of the York-Bay-Yonge eastbound off-ramp of the Gardiner Expressway. [5] The off-ramp was removed in 2016–2017 to reclaim the space for the community by allowing for the widening of Harbour Street to improve pedestrian and cyclist access to the waterfront. [6] The allotted space is 0.81 hectares (2 acres) in the Financial District of the Toronto harbourfront. [5] The allotted budget for the construction of the park is approximately CA$7 million. The project was planned to break ground in 2019 though due to delays was not started until 2021. [7]

Design

Love Park was designed by CCxA (formerly Claude Cormier + associes) landscape architects based in Montreal. They worked with gh3*, an architecture firm in Toronto. [8] “The park was designed to be an alter ego for its surroundings of large and reflective glass clad structures.” [9] The design of Love Park follows a classic design strategy with a central water installation surrounded by lush green spaces. [7] This strategy is reflected in parks and installations around the world and has been utilized for generations. This design strategy is also seen in Natrel Rink, Nathan Phillips Square, and Paul Quarrington Ice Rink and Splash Pad. These are three public spaces that are in close proximity to Love Park and similarly have central water features. Love Park is a continuation of Toronto's efforts to revitalize its harbourfront community and bring green spaces to areas dominated by skyscrapers.

Features

Love Park has a number of features to augment the space. The largest such feature is the heart shaped reflecting pool in the middle of the park. [3] According to Cormier, the heart design was inspired by an image he saw on social media following the 2018 Toronto van attack, while the red tile surrounding the pool references mosaics in Park Güell. [10] “Within the reflecting pool it will have a small island with red and pink flowers as well as a large, illuminated heart that will be suspended above.” [9] The reflecting pool will be a central water feature. The park also will have a fully mirrored arcade that creates a functional pavilion that's interior houses a universal washroom and a coffee kiosk for park goers to utilize while providing shelter from the elements for a number of seating areas. [9] The pavilion will be a space for residents of the community, people who work in the commercial buildings, and tourists to have a rest, eat lunch, or have a morning coffee while experiencing the park. [9] Love Park also has several clearings and platforms for the display of public art installations and to facilitate small gatherings. [9]

Related Research Articles

The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends from the foot of the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) in the east, just past the mouth of the Don River, to the junction of Highway 427 and the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in the west, for a total length of 18.0 kilometres (11.2 mi). East of Dufferin Street to just east of the Don River, the roadway is elevated for a length of 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi), unofficially making it the longest bridge in Ontario, as it runs above Lake Shore Boulevard east of Spadina Avenue. The Gardiner Expressway is wholly owned and operated by the Province of Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harbourfront, Toronto</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario within the downtown core of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Toronto waterfront, Harbourfront extends from Bathurst Street in the west, along Queens Quay, with its ill-defined eastern boundary being either Yonge Street or York Street. Its northern boundary is the Gardiner Expressway. Much of the district was former water lots filled in during the early 1900s to create a larger harbour district. After shipping patterns changed and the use of the Toronto harbour declined, the area was converted from industrial uses to a mixed-use district that is mostly residential and leisure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto waterfront</span> Shore of Lake Ontario in Toronto, Canada

The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Harbour</span> Bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a natural bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or party cruises. Ferries travel from docks on the mainland to the Islands, and cargo ships deliver aggregates and raw sugar to industries located in the harbour. Historically, the harbour has been used for military vessels, passenger traffic and cargo traffic. Waterfront uses include residential, recreational, cultural, commercial and industrial sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union station (TTC)</span> Toronto subway station

Union is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1954 as one of twelve original stations on the first phase of the Yonge line, the first rapid transit line in Canada. It was the southern terminus of the line until the opening of the University line in 1963, and is today the inflection point of the U-shaped line. Along with Spadina station and Queens Quay station, it is one of three stations open overnight to support late-night streetcar routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Shore Boulevard</span> Street in Toronto

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hogg's Hollow Bridge</span> Set of four highway bridges in Toronto, Ontario

Hoggs Hollow Bridge, originally known as the Yonge Boulevard Viaduct, is a set of four separate highway bridges that span the West Branch of the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and carries 14 lanes of Highway 401. The four structures are the busiest multi-span bridge crossing in North America, surpassing the Brooklyn Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queens Quay (Toronto)</span> Street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada

Queens Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront; parts of it have been extensively rebuilt in since the 1970s with parks, condominiums, retail, as well as institutional and cultural development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen's Quay Terminal</span> Mixed-use residential and commercial in Ontario, Canada

Queen's Quay Terminal is a condominium apartment, office and retail complex in the Harbourfront neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally built in 1927 as a marine terminal with office, warehouse and cold-storage facilities. When shipping to Toronto declined in the 1960s and 1970s, the building was bought by the Government of Canada to be repurposed along with a section of the industrial waterfront. The Terminal Building itself was rebuilt in the 1980s with the addition of four floors of residential above the original facility, which was converted into retail and office uses. The cold storage wing was demolished and its plant building became The Power Plant gallery and Harbourfront Centre Theatre.

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H<sub>T</sub>O Park Public beach in Toronto, Canada

HTO Park is an urban beach in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that opened in 2007. It is located west of Harbourfront Centre, on Lake Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterfront Toronto</span> Organization that oversees revitalization projects along the Toronto waterfront

Waterfront Toronto is an organization that oversees revitalization projects along the Toronto waterfront. Established in 2001 as a public–public partnership between the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario and Government of Canada, the organization is administering several blocks of land redevelopment projects surrounding Toronto Harbour and various other initiatives to promote the revitalization of the area, including public transit, housing developments, brownfield rehabilitation, possible removal of the Gardiner Expressway in the area, the Martin Goodman Trail and lakeshore improvements, and naturalization of the Don River. Actual development of the projects is done by other entities, primarily private corporations. The projects include a series of wavedeck walkways and gathering places designed by West 8 and DTAH.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Cormier</span> Canadian landscape architect and urban designer (1960–2023)

Claude Cormier was a Canadian landscape architect from Quebec. The majority of his projects are located in Montreal and Toronto. His landscape practice was founded in 1994. In March 2022, the practice Claude Cormier + associes became CCxA in light of new partners.

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Pat Hanson is a Canadian architect based in Toronto and a founding principal of gh3, an architecture practice which she co-leads with Raymond Chow. The office focuses on projects that blend architecture, landscape, and urbanism. Currently gh3 -- under Hanson's leadership -- has won six Governor General's Medal in Architecture awards. This award is considered "the highest recognition for building architecture in Canada." Hanson has been inducted into the RAIC College of Fellows and has become a WLI Champion by the Urban Land Institute, which celebrate's women's leadership in building a stronger Toronto Region through responsible use of land. Hanson is also a founding member of the Women’s Architectural League.

References

  1. "Historic photos from around High Park, Toronto". WholeMap.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  2. "Love Park | Waterfront Toronto". www.waterfrontoronto.ca. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Love Park". www.waterfronttoronto.ca. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  4. Felix, Ricardo (June 21, 2023). "Love Park Opens In Toronto's Harbourfront". Designlines Magazine. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Gordon, David L. A. (1997). "Building Battery Park City" . Battery Park City: Politics and Planning on the New York Waterfront. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach. pp. 93–104. doi:10.4324/9780203059524. ISBN   978-0-203-05952-4. OCLC   823738275.
  6. "Eastbound ramp from Gardiner Expressway to York/Bay/Yonge Streets to be demolished, replaced with new ramp". City of Toronto. February 8, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Winning designs chosen for Toronto's Rees and York Street parks". Canadian Architect. October 9, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  8. "Love Park" . Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Teo, Mark (July 10, 2018). "10 Proposals, Two Green Spaces: Exploring Toronto's New Waterfront Parks". Azure Magazine. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  10. Senechal-Becker, Elena (December 1, 2021). ""Risk is Where Success Resides": A Conversation with Claude Cormier". Azure.