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Fort York and Garrison Common: Parks and Open Space Design And FORT YORK AND GARRISON COMMON Parks and Open Space Design and Implementation Plan This document has been prepared for the City of Toronto, and is the result of a collaborative effort between the Policy & Development, City Planning and Culture Divisions. Acknowledgement is made of the significant contribution made by The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common and The Fort York Management Board. May 29, 2001 du Toit Allsopp Hillier · Philip Goldsmith & Co. Ltd. · Pleasance Crawford · Lea Consulting Ltd. · Gartner Lee Associates TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION SECTION ONE: PLANNING STRATEGIES 1. Fort York Park 6 2. Character of Fort York Park 7 3. Connections to the City 8 4. the Built-form Setting 12 5. Views 16 6. Heritage Conservation District 18 7. The Broader Historical Resource 20 8. Archaeological Resource Protection 22 9. Archaeology: Public Outreach/Interpretation 23 10. Fort Restoration 24 11. Industrial and Railway Heritage within the Fort Precinct 26 12. Landform Recovery 28 13. Lake Ontario and Garrison Creek 30 14. Visitor and Program-support Facilities 32 15. Address and Entrance 34 16. Parking 36 17. Servicing 38 18. Fort york Security 39 SECTION TWO: DEMONSTRATION PLANS Long Range Demonstration Plan 43 Short-term Demonstration Plan 45 ii du Toit Allsopp Hillier · Philip Goldsmith & Co. Ltd. · Pleasance Crawford · Lea Consulting Ltd. · Gartner Lee Associates SECTION THREE: PRIORITY PROJECTS Priority Projects 49 Projects related to Fort York Boulevard 50 Archaeological Landscape 50 The South Escarpment and a New Entrance 52 Armouries Frontage and Vehicle Compound 52 Gore Park and 800 Fleet Street 54 Projects related to Front Street Extension 56 Land Bridge 56 Front Street Extension Open Space Corridor 57 Visitor Accommodation Projects 58 Forecourt Redevelopment 58 Long Range Visitor Accommodation 59 Precinct Restoration Projects 60 Garrison Park 60 Garrison Cemetery 60 Northern Ramparts 61 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Social and Physical Conditions 65 Descriptions of physical conditions in and around Fort York 65 Descriptions of social life in and around Fort York 87 Appendix 2: Siting Visitor Accommodation Facilities 97 Introduction 97 Design Philosophy 97 Access and Parking 99 Links to the City 99 Visitor Facility Archetypes 100 Appendix 3: Participants 115 Fort York and Garrison Common · Parks and Open Space Design and Implementation Plan iii iv du Toit Allsopp Hillier · Philip Goldsmith & Co. Ltd. · Pleasance Crawford · Lea Consulting Ltd. · Gartner Lee Associates INTRODUCTION The Fort York and Garrison Common Parks and Open Space Design and Opposite: Aerial Photo showing Implementation Plan is fort-centred. It focuses on the recovery, restoration, Garrison Common and the Fort Precinct. and interpretation of the fort and its landscape setting, and the facilities for visitor access and accommodation. The plan also addresses the broader urban and historical setting of which the fort is an integral part, concentrating on the opportunities for linkage and integration of the public spaces and the interpretation of natural and cultural historic traces. These plans for the fort's future improvement and development have been prepared with two objectives in mind. First, for short-term actions to bear long term fruits, they must be based on some image of the future they are to serve and support. Second, to the extent that a long range vision for the fort inspires excitement and confidence, it will itself influence current decisions to create a future development context most consistent with fort-centred objectives. Report Structure This report seeks to give direction to Fort York's future development by presenting design concepts that are clear, imaginative and coherent, and which are founded on a thorough understanding of what is most desirable for the fort, and of what is possible in a complex and dynamic physical context. Since precise design solutions cannot be determined in all cases at this time, the core of the report is a discussion of "Planning Strategies" that sets out specific planning objectives and the general means for their realization. The discussion includes consideration of first principles, planning horizons, and alternatives. "Demonstration Plans" are presented that illustrate one way in which the strategies could be translated into physical form. A final chapter identifies priority projects that should be undertaken as soon as funds become available and opportunities arise. While some of these would be independent projects, others represent opportunities arising from major infrastructure works occurring in the vicinity of the Fort. Fort York Purpose and Operation Physical planning and design is founded upon and reflects an understanding of purposes, uses, functions and operational practices. Since many of these matters are currently being reviewed, we have made the following assumptions regarding the purposes and operations of the fort. Fort York and Garrison Common · Parks and Open Space Design and Implementation Plan 1 The fort is a historical resource of very high merit which has for a long time functioned as an open-air public museum. Consequently, the protection and enhancement of the resource must necessarily be balanced against the need to offer visitors an experience that is educational, enjoyable and comfortable. The fort is largely reliant upon admission fees and other charges to finance its operations. This requires marking the perimeter of the fort to control access to the grounds, and to distinguish between the fort proper and the surrounding public park lands. It also implies that the fort's revenues may be augmented by other fee-paying activities that capitalize on the fort's ambience to generate additional funds, but are not directly related to core programs. Planning Horizons The many major changes planned for the lands around the fort present wonderful opportunities for improving the fort's immediate setting and for reconnecting it with the city and the lake. However, the high level of uncertainty surrounding some of these possibilities tends to frustrate our ability to plan or implement with confidence in the long term. For this reason, we have developed demonstration plans that reflect two planning horizons. The short-term planning horizon is defined by projects in the area that are defined and scheduled to proceed. The long range planning horizon is defined by projects that are defined and/or possible, but not yet scheduled. Study Basis The project is firmly based on Fort York: Setting it Right, a study published jointly by the Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common and the Fort York Management Board in June of 2000. Sub-titled Fort-Centred Planning and Design Principles, the report articulates a series of actions that, if implemented, would result in a fort context that is supportive, deferential and interconnected. The Fort York and Garrison Common Open Space Study examines these and other actions in greater detail and in terms of physical design, phasing and, in some cases, capital cost. 2 du Toit Allsopp Hillier · Philip Goldsmith & Co. Ltd. · Pleasance Crawford · Lea Consulting Ltd. · Gartner Lee Associates FORT YORK: SETTING IT RIGHT The Planning and Design Principles: · The restoration of Fort York should preserve and interpret the various eras of its history. Evidence of previous restoration efforts should also be preserved and interpreted. · The topographic landscape setting of Fort York should be recovered, restored and interpreted. · The outstanding archaeological resources associated with Fort York and its neighbourhood should be recognized and protected and, where appropriate, should be explored professionally. · The cultural elements of the Fort York Precinct should be recovered and restored. · The Fort York Armouries should be included in the Fort York Heritage Conservation District. · New constructions or other elements introduced into the fort landscape should be clearly distinguishable from the historic layers of the landscape. · The common history of Fort York and the fort neighbourhoods should be commemorated. · The massing and design of new buildings and other structures near the fort precinct should be compatible with the fort. · Views to and from the fort should be protected and enhanced. · A system of parks and open spaces should connect the Fort York Precinct with the adjoining neighbourhoods and the waterfront: · A public pathway system should link the paths in the Fort York Precinct, the sidewalks of the surrounding streets, the paths in adjoining neighbourhoods and the waterfront promenades and trails. · New streets should give the Fort York Precinct a new address, enhance opportunities for interpretive views of the fort, and improve access for pedestrians, cyclists and transit passengers as well as for motorists. · The dismantling of the elevated Gardiner Expressway and its below-grade replacement south of the Fort York Precinct should be strongly supported. · Vehicular access and parking should be provided in ways that support other objectives for restoring the landscape setting of the fort while ensuring ease of access for visitors. · Visitor Services and the Interpretive Centre facilities should be provided in ways that support other objectives for restoring the fort and its landscape setting while accommodating and enriching a full range of visitor experiences. Fort York and Garrison Common · Parks and Open Space Design and Implementation Plan 3 4 du Toit Allsopp Hillier · Philip Goldsmith & Co. Ltd. · Pleasance Crawford · Lea Consulting Ltd.
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