DOCSLIB.ORG

The Bentway Explores Safe in Public Space​ This Fall, Launching Oct. 16

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Bentway Explores Safe in Public Space​ This Fall, Launching Oct. 16 The Bentway explores Safe in Public Space this fall, launching Oct. 16 ​ Artists, practitioners, Public Space Fellows, researchers assemble to drive new thinking and action to create safer and more equitable public spaces Oct. 15, 2020 - TORONTO, ON - The Bentway today announced the launch of a timely ​ exploration, Safe in Public Space, which takes a deep, critical look at safety and equity in public ​ ​ spaces everywhere, including issues of design justice, invisibility and hypervisibility, operating practices, health objectives and governance. Beginning Fri., Oct. 16, and running through ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ December (both online at thebentway.ca/safe and onsite at 250 Fort York Blvd., Toronto), a ​ ​ ​ ​ passionate group of creators, artists, activists, researchers, and other partners will work together to develop new best practices and strategies to ensure the creation of safe public spaces for all. “The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside interrelated crises of systemic racism and other public safety issues, prompted The Bentway to examine its role during a time when public space has become an essential service for all of us,” said Mazyar Mortazavi, Board Chair at ​ ​ The Bentway. “This project will question who defines ‘public safety’ and the limits of how it is currently defined. It will reveal conflicts between safety and accessibility to find creative solutions for the future of public space.” Photographed in Parkdale, a man protects his face twice by covering it with a face mask and a face shield. In these times, maintaining a normal life and carrying on with a routine takes courage and resilience. How do you work around fear to start leading a somewhat normal life as we transition into life post-quarantine? Photo: Ebti Nabag. Safe in Public Space will feature original creative and editorial content from a diverse group of experts and advocates, including Matthew Hickey (architect), Chris Lee (designer), Taboo ​ ​ ​ Health (creative catalysts in health), Vibe Arts (youth arts advocates), and Jacqueline L. Scott ​ ​ (researcher, Black Outdoors), to uncover critical issues, spark dialogue, and offer new solutions. An inaugural Public Space Fellowship brings Nahomi Amberber and Gelila Mekonnen - ​ ​ emerging advocates in the fields of public health and planning, respectively - to The Bentway team, while a series of creative projects from artists Syrus Marcus Ware, Ebti Nabag, Public ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Visualization Studio, Phat Le and Benjamin de Boer, offer installations, photo essays and other ​ ​ ​ ​ explorations that address issues of risk and safety in public space. "During the Public Space Fellowship, we hope to explore how responses to previous public health crises and conventional approaches to public space planning have dictated access to space for certain identities,” said Amberber and Mekonnen. “We also look forward to working with community members and organizations to contribute to innovative thinking about how community and place-based knowledge can expand conventional definitions of ‘safety’.” Urban consultation and planning studio Process will support a series of community ​ ​ consultations, stakeholder interviews and focus groups to better understand and reflect on diverse experiences and perspectives on safety in public space, for both local residents and practitioners. Safe in Public Space will accelerate shareable learnings and best practices for public spaces ​ ​ city-wide, as well as specific safety commitments for The Bentway’s future. The culmination of the project will be a Safe in Public Space toolkit, released in 2021. The toolkit will be available ​ ​ for free to any organization hoping to implement key learnings, strategies and best practices to ​ help remake any public space into an environment that is safer, more equitable and more ​ accessible for all. The Bentway. Photo: Nic Lehoux Public Space Fellows Acknowledging that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) and other key voices are frequently excluded from civic dialogue and traditional processes of city building, The Bentway’s new Public Space Fellowship was created to empower, support, and learn from the next generation of diverse leaders that will steward the future of public space, ensuring resiliency, inclusion and equitable access. Gelila Mekonnen (she/her) and Nahomi Amberber (she/her) have joined The Bentway as ​ Public Space Fellows for a three month, full-time, paid fellowship in the inaugural year of the program. They will bring intersectional perspectives to Safe in Public Space and shape the ​ overall trajectory of the project, as well as conduct comprehensive studies on issues of health, safety and stewardship in public space, produce research and written content, acting as key contributors to the toolkit. Mekonnen will offer significant expertise through an urban planning and active transportation lens, with a particular interest in community engagement. She will investigate how ongoing community feedback, commentary and collaboration can happen in a pandemic-friendly way, in order to support and maintain safe public spaces, both at The Bentway site and beyond. In conversation with other community organizations, Amberber will leverage her passion and ​ deep expertise in public health and epidemiology to explore how responses to past public health crises - including race-based violence - have changed the experience of public spaces for certain identities, and how to apply those learnings today. Her intention is to use this work to build capacity for The Bentway and any group that is already working to address safety in the public realm. Online platform The Bentway is bringing together a diverse group of experts and advocates to create original ​ editorial and creative content for the project, including those who are traditionally included as “experts” in city-building (planners, architects, designers, etc.) and those whose expertise is often overlooked (artists, poets, youth, etc.). The goal is to provide a platform for a wide variety of voices to share critical insights and perspectives, as well as spark inspiration and drive change within groups who traditionally hold the power to shape public health policies and public spaces. A growing list of contributors including Matthew Hickey (he/him), Vibe Arts, Taboo Health, Chris ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Lee (he/him), and Jacqueline L. Scott (she/her) will publish online pieces exploring the inherent ​ ​ ​ ​ safety risks associated with the design process; how urban design can better address the mental health needs for a broader public; histories erased in the creation of public space; and the importance of youth agency in determining the parameters of public safety. All content will be shared through thebentway.ca/safe and other owned digital/social channels, ​ while select pieces will be co-published with partner Azure Magazine (Canada’s award-winning ​ magazine for contemporary architecture and design). Creative Explorations Five creative partners - Toronto-based artists Syrus Marcus Ware, Ebti Nabag, Phat Le and ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Benjamin de Boer, and Public Visualization Studio - will produce artistic work highlighting the ​ ​ ​ many safety risks and harms that marginalized and racialized groups encounter in public spaces, through a variety of mediums and methods. Projects will live both onsite at The Bentway and online. The artists and the communities they are working with will reflect on their ​ ​ lived experiences; increase awareness about aggressions, violence, discrimination and racism that BIPOC, people experiencing homelessness, and people with disabilities face in public spaces; and identify tools to improve the safety and accessibility of public space for all.. Syrus Marcus Ware’s (he/him) Radical Love is a multimedia installation incorporating visuals ​ ​ and sounds celebrating Black and Afro-Indigenous trans women, 2Spirit and non-binary people, considered among the most vulnerable and most unsafe in public spaces. Ware will create three large-scale, abstract sculptural lightboxes, warmly lit from the inside and situated along The Bentway site. Each sculpture features beautiful, larger-than-life images of trans and non-binary people, paired with a soundscape telling stories of Black trans liberation and Black trans futures. The sculptures are monuments to the lives and survival of these Black trans heroes, acting as celebratory beacons that mark the space as safe for those who need it most. “By centering my consideration of safety on keeping the most vulnerable in our society safe, arguably Black and Afro-Indigenous trans women and non-binary folks, I am necessarily creating an environment that would be welcoming and safer for everyone,” said Ware. Radical Love will be onsite and online from Oct. 16 through Nov. 11. ​ Ravyn, from Radical Love by Syrus Marcus Ware. ​ ​ Ebti Nabag (she/her), a Toronto-based portrait and documentary photographer, will capture a series of images of public spaces throughout the city, showing how local residents and communities interact with their local parks, squares and areas for communal gathering. A new photo will be released weekly on thebentway.ca/safe throughout the duration of Safe in Public ​ ​ Space, culminating as an expansive photo essay. Nabag’s work will expose, from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and in real time, how different communities reshape established rules of public space to better suit their needs, and what it means to seek safety in public space. Nabag will also share process shots and stories from the people she connects
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Platform Feminism: Feminist Protest Space and the Politics of Spatial Organization
    Platform Feminism: Feminist Protest Space and the Politics of Spatial Organization by Rianka Singh A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Information University of Toronto © Copyright by Rianka Singh 2020 Platform Feminism: Feminist Protest Space and the Politics of Spatial Organization Rianka Singh Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Information University of Toronto 2020 Abstract Platform Feminism: Feminist Protest Space and the Politics of Spatial Organization examines the relationship between platforms and feminist politics. This dissertation proposes a new feminist media theory of the platform that positions the platform as a media object that elevates and amplifies some voices over others and renders marginal resistance tactics illegible. This dissertation develops the term “Platform Feminism” to describe an emerging view of digital platforms as always-already politically useful media for feminist empowerment. I argue that Platform Feminism has come to structure and dominate popular imaginaries of what a feminist politics is. In the same vein, the contemporary focus on digital platforms within media studies negates attention to the strategies of care, safety and survival that feminists who resist on the margins employ in the digital age. If we take seriously the imperative to survive rather than an overbearing commitment to speak up, then the platform’s role in feminism is revealed as limited in scope and potential. Through a mixed methodological approach via interviews with feminist activists, critical discourse analysis of platform protest materials, critical discourse analysis of news coverage and popular cultural responses to transnational feminist protests and participant observation within sites of feminist protest in Toronto, this dissertation argues that the platform is a media object that is over-determined in its political utility for Feminist politics and action.
    [Show full text]
  • Backgrounder
    Join us! Get involved with Quayside Over the last three years Waterfront Toronto set out to create an ambitious plan for a next-generation sustainable community at Quayside. The purpose of this document is to provide basic information about who Waterfront Toronto is, what Quayside is, where we are headed and how the public can get involved. After reading this document please participate in our engagement process. We invite you to: 1. Stay informed: Watch our video presentation (9 minutes) and read this project backgrounder. 2. Get Involved: Take our survey and share your opinion. The survey is open until October 25. 3. Ask questions: Join one of three informal interactive sessions on October 15, 16 and 21. Click here for more information. Before you get started here are some answers to commonly asked questions: Who Is Waterfront Toronto? Waterfront Toronto was created by the Government of Canada, Province of Ontario and City of Toronto to help make our city more resilient and future-ready: turning an industrial lakeshore into a home for 21st century jobs, neighbouhoods and innovation. Waterfront Toronto is building sustainable complete neighbourhoods that include parks, attractions, and infrastructure that make people’s lives better. Since 2001, every project we’ve delivered has focused on enhancing the economic, social and cultural value of the waterfront. What Has Waterfront Toronto Accomplished So Far? In the last two decades, our work has made a remarkable impact on Toronto, including: • Creating or improving more than 25 parks and
    [Show full text]
  • November 2016 Final Minutes
    MINUTES OF YQNA MEETING #64, Wednesday, November 23, 2016, Radisson Admiral Hotel, 249 Queens Quay West Chaired by Ed Hore Residents (who signed in) attending: 10 Yonge St. – Ed Hore, H. Katwaroo 10 Queens Quay West – Ralph Reda 1 York Quay – 33 Harbour Square –Helen Skwarok 55 Harbour Square – Ulla Colgrass 65 Harbour Square – Bob & Celia Rasmussen, Klaus & FrIedel Hatje 77 Harbour Square – Laura Cooper, Nan Cooper 99 Harbour Square – Harold Swartz, Margaret HollIngsworth, Kate Lee James 208 Queens Quay West – Estelle Weynman, Eva Sarenland 218 Queens Quay West – 228 Queens Quay West – Carolyn Johnson, Gordon & Elaine Moores 230 Queens Quay West – KasIa Introwski 250 Queens Quay West – Claire Sparks 251 Queens Quay West – Allen & AngIe RIVers, Chiko Chakravertz, DIane Cordell, Andy Reddon 260 Queens Quay West – Wayne ChrIstian, Marcia Boyd, Carol McCanse, Randy Craig 270 Queens Quay West – Neal Colgrass 280 Queens Quay West – 350 Queens Quay West – 34 Little Norway – Guests: Ron Jenkins – guest speaker Michelle Knieriem – City Planning (guest speaker) Brent Gilliard – Assist. to Councillor Joe Cressy Tom Davidson – Assist. to Councillor Pam McConnell Parul Barisal Thorben Wieditz, David Anderson, fairbnb 1. Adoption of the agenda. On a motIon by Ulla Colgrass, seconded by Estelle Weynman, the agenda was adopted. 2. Adoption of Minutes from September 14, 2016 meetIng. On a motIon from Carolyn Johnson, seconded by Nan Cooper, the minutes were adopted. 3. Chair Ed Hore introduced Brent Gilliard to report from Ward 20. Brent outlined recent or planned events in the area: • The new playground at the Rees Street Parkette is open for use. • The re-use of the parking lot at Rees Street will be open for public discussion early in 2017.
    [Show full text]
  • Jake Tobin Garrett- Walk Leader ([email protected]) Anna Hill – Note Taker ([email protected])
    Park People (www.parkpeople.ca) Jake Tobin Garrett- Walk Leader ([email protected]) Anna Hill – Note Taker ([email protected]) UNDER GARDINER WALKSHOP COMMUNITY CONSULTATION NOTES May 8, 2016 1. Stop #1 - Fort York Visitor’s Centre . Walkshops This is the second Under Gardiner Walkshops . Comments The project design team will receive your comments from the walk. Leads Jake Tobin Garrett of Park People is our walk leader, Anna Hill of Park People is our note- taker, Lauren Abrahams is attending on behalf of Public Work and Christopher McKinnon is here on behalf of Waterfront Toronto. Pulse Points will include 1) Strachan Creative Action Hub, 2) Fort York-Liquid Landscape, 3) Fort York Boulevard Crossing, 4) Bathurst Community Hub . Feedback A key goal of today’s walk is to receive your feedback, particularly in regards to the design of the four pulse points. Participant Demographics Walkshop participants are from surrounding communities as well as East York, Leslieville, Scarborough, and Etobicoke. Audience Reasons for Participation include an interest in urban design, public space, neighbourhood integration, Toronto history, an east/west extension of the project, and how the Under Gardiner will fit into a larger, downtown multi-use trail system. 2. Stop #2 - Strachan-Creative Action Hub . Location The Creative Action Hub is for higher intensity programming because it is further away from residential units than other “pulse points”. Performance Creative Action Hub will host various types of performances . Boardwalk / Seating A boardwalk along Strachan will fold down into a stepped seating area that descends from Strachan Avenue down to the ground under the Gardiner.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Regina Press Spring 2021 PUBLISHER’S LETTER
    University of Regina Press Spring 2021 PUBLISHER’S LETTER Dear Readers, of stories to connect us to one Carrying the Burden of Peace shines another while we distance-learn a light on Indigenous storytellers n early March, University of to navigate this changed world. reimagining masculinities. And Regina Press was thrilled to We all have stories, stories we we honour Indigenous storytelling be sending out our Fall 2020 share and stories shared with by releasing a new edition of Icatalogue, which contained a us. Our Spring 2021 books share the seminal language textbook publisher’s letter about change— the personal stories of a troubled Cree: Language of the Plains. climate change, political change, multigenerational family in and cultural change. Between hockey-obsessed Prince Albert, As Richard Van Camp notes in the the time that catalogue and letter SK (White Coal City); a gardener’s forthcoming Gather, stories are went to press and the time that journey along the Camino medicine. We hope you find these catalogue was delivered, the world de Santiago (The Way of the stories and lessons connective, changed dramatically, almost Gardener); and a woman’s journey restorative, and inspiring during unimaginably, separating us from her European childhood these transformational times. from our coworkers, friends, and to a literary life in Canada (The even families, and challenging us Girl from Dream City). Women to rethink the way we navigate tell their stories and reclaim our relationships with the their power in the poetry of world and with each other. Resistance: Righteous Rage in the Kristine Luecker, Director, Age of #MeToo.
    [Show full text]
  • Exhibition Place Master Plan – Phase 1 Proposals Report
    Acknowledgments The site of Exhibition Place has had a long tradition as a gathering place. Given its location on the water, these lands would have attracted Indigenous populations before recorded history. We acknowledge that the land occupied by Exhibition Place is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands. Figure 1. Moccasin Identifier engraving at Toronto Trillium Park The study team would like to thank City Planning Division Study Team Exhibition Place Lynda Macdonald, Director Don Boyle, Chief Executive Officer Nasim Adab Gilles Bouchard Tamara Anson-Cartwright Catherine de Nobriga Juliana Azem Ribeiro de Almeida Mark Goss Bryan Bowen Hardat Persaud David Brutto Tony Porter Brent Fairbairn Laura Purdy Christian Giles Debbie Sanderson Kevin Lee Kelvin Seow Liz McFarland Svetlana Lavrentieva Board of Governors Melanie Melnyk Tenants, Clients and Operators Dan Nicholson James Parakh David Stonehouse Brad Sunderland Nigel Tahair Alison Torrie-Lapaire 4 - PHASE 1 PROPOSALS REPORT FOR EXHIBITION PLACE Local Advisory Committee Technical Advisory Committee Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association Michelle Berquist - Transportation Planning The Bentway Swinzle Chauhan – Transportation Services
    [Show full text]
  • Waterfront Design Review Panel Minutes of Meeting #143 Wednesday, April 21St, 2021
    Waterfront Design Review Panel Minutes of Meeting #143 Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 Present Regrets Paul Bedford, Chair Jeff Ranson Betsy Williamson, Vice Chair Pat Hanson George Baird Peter Busby Claude Cormier Matthew Hickey Janna Levitt Nina-Marie Lister Fadi Masoud Brigitte Shim Kevin Stelzer Eric Turcotte Representatives Recording Secretary Chris Glaisek, Waterfront Toronto Leon Lai Deanne Mighton, City of Toronto WELCOME The Chair opened the meeting by providing an overview of the agenda, which included reviews of: 1. West Don Lands Block 20 – Schematic Design 2. Bentway Bridge Re-design – Schematic Design 3. Leslie Street Lookout – Schematic Design GENERAL BUSINESS The Chair asked the Panel to adopt the minutes from the March. 24th, 2021 meeting. The minutes were adopted. The Chair asked if there were any conflicts of interest. Eric Turcotte declared conflict for West Don Lands Block 20 and recused himself from the review. Claude Cormier WDRP Minutes of Meeting #143 - Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 1 declared conflicts for West Don Lands Block 20 and Leslie Street Lookout, and recused himself from the review. The Chair then asked Christopher Glaisek, Chief Planning and Design Officer with Waterfront Toronto, to give an update on last month’s projects. Update on last month’s projects: Mr. Glaisek began by noting that the Queens Quay East Revitalization team is working to address the Consensus Comments from March 2021 DRP and studying other options for Yonge Slip in response to comments. The project is anticipated to return to DRP to focus on the slips in the summer before completing 30% design. Mr. Glaisek noted the Waterfront East LRT Area 1 team is also working to address the Consensus Comments from March 2021, and Waterfront Toronto will hold an integration workshop with West 8, DTAH, and TTC.
    [Show full text]
  • Summit 2020 Report
    Virtual Summit Report Held November 4–6, 2020 SUMMIT 2020: RESISTANCE & RESPONSIBILITY 1 Credits EDITOR: Michael Kwag, Christopher DiRaddo WRITER: Francesco MacAllister-Caruso TRANSLATION: Elie Darling DESIGN/LAYOUT: Pulp & Pixel (pulpandpixel.ca) PRODUCTION SUPPORT: Jose Patiño-Gomez, Keith Reynolds, Jumbo Virtual Events BIPOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE: David Absalom, Independent Consultant Robert Alsberry, Black Gay Men’s Network of Ontario (BGMN) & MAX Ottawa Jessy Dame, CBRC Rocky James, Salish Social Policy Design & CBRC Richard Jenkins, 2 Spirits in Motion SUMMIT PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE: Sarah Chown, YouthCO Alexandre Dumont Blais, RÉZO Santé Olivier Ferlatte, Université de Montréal Daniel Grace, University of Toronto Ben Klassen, CBRC Alec Moorji, Edmonton Men’s Health Collective (EMHC) Roberto Ortiz Núñez, Independent Consultant Aaron Purdie, Health Initiative for Men (HIM) Travis Salway, Simon Fraser University Rusty Souleymanov, University of Manitoba SUMMIT HOST: Roberto Ortiz Núñez Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC) promotes the health of gay, bi, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer men (GBT2Q) through research and intervention development. CBRC’s core pillars – community-led research, knowledge exchange, network building, and leadership development – position the organization as a thought leader, transforming ideas into actions that make a difference in our communities. Financial support for Summit 2020 is provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, ViiV Healthcare, Gilead Sciences, and the BC Centre for Disease Control. The views herein do not necessarily represent the views of the funding organizations and sponsors. 2020 © Rapport également disponible en français | Report also available in French 2 SUMMIT 2020: RESISTANCE & RESPONSIBILITY Letter from the Summit 2020 Director When we first started making plans for Summit 2020, we had no idea what would be in store for the rest of the year.
    [Show full text]
  • Topics in the Black, African and African
    INSPIRE 3EL3 – Experiential Learning Opportunities CO1 – Topics in the Black, African and African Diaspora Studies Fall 2021 COURSE OFFERING Term: Fall 2021 Mode of Delivery: Virtual Class Dates: Mondays 3:30 pm - 5:20 pm and Thursdays 3:30 pm - 4:20 pm COURSE INSTRUCTOR Name: Kojo Damptey Email: [email protected] Office Hours: TBD COURSE DESCRIPTION This interdisciplinary course will explore selected topics from Black, African, and African Diaspora Studies, as determined by the instructor. Topics will focus on historical and contemporary issues that connect Black and African communities around the world. This course will interrogate the intersections of race with other concepts and experiences including gender, class, sexuality, culture, power, politics, violence, and globalization. To do this a wide variety of scholarly and non-scholarly work will be explored to introduce students to the past and contemporary socio-cultural varieties of African societies across the globe. In addition, students will be exposed to ideas and research from interdisciplinary scholars within the African & Caribbean Faculty Association at McMaster (ACFAM). COURSE OBJECTIVES This course provides an introduction to the history, ideas, realities, and research of Black, African and African Diaspora scholars, organizers and their respective communities. Topics of concern explored in this course will be ideas and concepts around resistance, resilience, liberation, and decoloniality. They will be discussed through various theoretical frameworks including post/anti/neo/de(colonial studies), critical race theory, African Indigenous Knowledge Systems, analyses of whiteness and anti-racism/anti-oppression. ● You will gain a historical, social, and political understanding of Black, African, and African diaspora ways of being particularly in a global context.
    [Show full text]
  • Sec 2-Core Circle
    TRANSFORMATIVE IDEA 1. THE CORE CIRCLE Re-imagine the valleys, bluffs and islands encircling the Downtown as a fully interconnected 900-hectare immersive landscape system THE CORE CIRLE 30 THE CORE CIRLE PUBLIC WORK 31 TRANSFORMATIVE IDEA 1. THE CORE CIRCLE N The Core Circle re-imagines the valleys, bluffs and islands E encircling the Downtown as a fully connected 900-hectare immersive landscape system W S The Core Circle seeks to improve and offer opportunities to reconnect the urban fabric of the Downtown to its surrounding natural features using the streets, parks and open spaces found around the natural setting of Downtown Toronto including the Don River Valley and ravines, Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands, Garrison Creek and the Lake Iroquois shoreline. Connecting these large landscape features North: Davenport Road Bluff, Toronto, Canada will create a continuous circular network of open spaces surrounding the Downtown, accessible from both the core and the broader city. The Core Circle re- imagines the Downtown’s framework of valleys, bluffs and islands as a connected 900-hectare landscape system and immersive experience, building on Toronto’s strong identity as a ‘city within a park’ and providing opportunities to acknowledge our natural setting and connect to the history of our natural landscapes. East: Don River Valley Ravine and Rosedale Valley Ravine, Toronto, Canada Historically, the natural landscape features that form the Core Circle were used by Indigenous peoples as village sites, travelling routes and hunting and gathering lands. They are regarded as sacred landscapes and places for spiritual renewal. The Core Circle seeks to re-establish our connection to these landscapes.
    [Show full text]
  • Governance and Funding Options for Project: Under Gardiner and Class Environmental Assessment for Crossing of Fort York Boulevard
    EX16.12 STAFF REPORT ACTION REQUIRED Governance and Funding Options for Project: Under Gardiner and Class Environmental Assessment for Crossing of Fort York Boulevard Date: June 20, 2016 To: Executive Committee Deputy City Manager, Cluster A From: Deputy City Manager, Cluster B Wards: Ward 19 – Trinity-Spadina Ward 20 – Trinity-Spadina Reference P:\2015\ClusterB\WF\EX16003 Number: SUMMARY This report recommends a governance and funding model for the programming, operations and maintenance of capital associated with Project: Under Gardiner (or "the Project"). Announced last year, the Project has been made possible by a $25 million donation from the Judy and Wilmot Matthews Foundation (the "Donor"). To date, the City has received $3 million, with the balance of funding to be provided once Council approves a governance and funding model satisfactory to the City, Donor and Waterfront Toronto, the parties to the Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") for the Project. The full vision for the Project involves the transformation of a 10-acre, 1.75-kilometre linear area beneath the elevated Gardiner Expressway into a new east-west multi-use trail and network of public amenities extending from west of Strachan Avenue to Spadina Avenue. The first phase involves the 5.8-acre area between Strachan Avenue and Bathurst Street with a trail connection extending to Spadina Avenue. Planned elements for the first phase include the "Strachan Gate Timber Pier" structure which provides performance and spectator space, a pedestrian and cycling bridge across Fort York Boulevard, a 450-metre ice skating plaza and programming components to activate the public space on a year-round basis.
    [Show full text]
  • Rail Deck Park
    The Opportunity of Rail Deck Park Graham Haines and Claire Nelischer November 27, 2017 On November 28th, the City of Toronto’s Executive parkland shortfall and serve the immediate needs of Committee will consider a report on the feasibility downtown’s growing population, while also building a and implementation of Rail Deck Park: a proposal to park of regional significance. deck over the rail corridor between Bathurst Street This paper examines the challenges the City has and Blue Jays Way to create a new 20-acre urban faced in providing parkland downtown, and the park. The estimated total cost of the park is $1.665 opportunity presented by Rail Deck Park. billion—less than the cost of acquiring 20 acres of land in downtown Toronto. The $1.665 billion includes the cost of acquiring air rights. City Average Downtown Downtown Toronto already has less parkland— on both an area and per person basis—than the city-wide average. With downtown growing faster than the rest of the city, this differential will only be exacerbated. The high (and rising) cost of land downtown necessitates creative solutions, such as Rail Deck Park. 2 2 Rail Deck Park offers the City its last opportunity 28 m 4.2 m to access a large, contiguous piece of parkland in the core. The park would help address downtown’s Figure 1: Toronto parkland provision rates per person (2016 Census population) 1 RYERSON CITY BUILDING INSTITUTE Key findings: with an additional $200 million anticipated by 2021. These funds, in combination with other 1. A park-starved core: Parkland comprises only revenue tools and value capture tools, could 6.9% of all land downtown, with only 7 parks cover a significant portion of Rail Deck Park’s larger than 5 hectares in size.
    [Show full text]