Northern Light
Superstar
For @christiesplits this is the review of S.A.D.R.A. Park.
First some background. SADRA Park is within a narrow hydro corridor which runs NW-SE in the St. Clair - Old Weston Rd.area.
The name, periods and all is an acronym for Silverthorn and District Ratepayers Association.
The park location (aerial photo):
The Park is approximately 1.2ha in size or about 3 acres over a distance of about 370m from Laughton to Old Weston or about 500m including the Allotment Gardens to the west of the latter.
Lets begin, as per the norm, by checking out the City of Toronto page for the park to see what this park claims to be:
www.toronto.ca
From the above:
That out of the way, let me say, I went in with low expectations as this being a hydro corridor, we know there are restrictions on tree planting and the narrow, linear nature of the park somewhat limits programming options, as does having to work around hydro pylons.
So, I started at the south-east extent of the park, and walked nnorht-west, mid-day, yesterday, August 25th, 2025. Join me on the tour.
Well, I'm not overwhelmed with the start, but on the upside, there's a sign, a garbage can, and the grass is mowed and green. Off the top, some sort of landscape feature here, perennial bed, a few pretty shrubs, or even a fruit tree.....just something, is needed to add some colour, and a sense of the space being cared for........some seating would also be desirable.
Lets continue in....
Looking back from just down the path....my next observation is the weird relationship of the park to the townhomes to the south.
Here we see that the delineation between pubic and private space is a bit unclear. Some properties have a fence, akin to a backyard fence that I can't say I'm overly fond of.....but others lack a fence entirely. Not the end of the world by any means, but a bit messy looking. The main pathway here is 'fine' if utilitarian and obviously aging.
On we go. Next we find the aformentioned Fitness Equipment:
I'm not a fitness equipment connoisseur, but seems fine....though maybe a bit of a brighter colour would have been nice.
I will make note of the odd triangle of grass where two two paths intersect, I'm surprised any has survived. I also note the fence to the left which is the standard over much of the park's length is chain-link, a bit rusty, overgrown and with a lean in spots. I like the idea of ivies on fence, but this is not the right grade of fence to support that, its too much weight.
***
A bit further on, we encounter the ball hockey court.
Seems fit for purpose. Not pretty, doesn't need to be though.....I'm ok w/it, lets move along.
***
We now arrive at Silverthorn Avenue which is a N-S street cutting across the park roughly at the half way point between Old Weston and Laughton .
Now this I like! Good quality brick work that creates a natural traffic calming effect while creating a warm, attractive link between the two park segments.
The condition of the landscaping on the other side of the road, in conjunction w/the bench, I'm less pleased with.....
The shrubs are in desperate need of a trim, I suppose there's some solace to be had in their robust health. The bench has been repaired by carpentry.....woo hoo! One of a few they've repaired here....but maybe someone could have brought the sander and a can of stain or paint?
****
For a hydro corridor, the greenery is a bit better than I expected, it appears hydro has agreed to tolerate short trees here. That could be taken better advantage of ....a small orchard could be an interesting option; if no locals are interesting in harvesting, then maybe just Lilacs or Japanese Maples would be nice.
The playground i up next:
Small'ish, but seems perfectly nice, good use of colour , some seating in good condition and shade structures a well.
I think a smidge more landscaping and some seating on the south-east side would be nice, but otherwise a solid effort here.
***
As we approach Old Weston Road, we encounter a recent Park expansion that occurred in conjunction with an adjacent residential development:
The above is probably the nicest bit of the park, the centre piece is a children's waterplay surrounded by seating in a variety of formats, benches in full sun, benches under a pergola, a picnic table and a pair of brightly coloured mukoka chairs.
A drinking fountain with bottle-filling feature is also present and nice perennial landscaping provides some added flourish.
As we arrive at Old Weston Road, thereis a veryt nice floral feature which is well maintained:
My only issue here is lack of seating. This is is the park main entrance, and has something nice to look at..and zero seats. While this is not typical park for landscaping flourish, the display here, to me, really lends itself to framing the path with curved, continuous benches framed by ornamental grasses.
Finally, we jump to the other side of street (Old Weston) where there isn't much park to speak of....post sign, you'll find an Allotment Garden that could be mistaken for a derelict detention facility with badly aging, over-sized chain link fences to keep the vegetables from escaping. LOL
Lest you think they serve a security purpose, the gate into the garden is unlocked.
Alongside the garden is a modest ~150 m of further trail to a nearby neighbourhood.
The tail end of the trail is rather unceremonious........so I'll ignore it, except to establish just how forgotten this corner of the park is....:
This is your first sight upon enterning the park from the north-west:
Ok, then..... LOL
On that note, I'll close out this review (for this post) by saying there are a suprising number of number of bits of this leftover space park that are actually quite good, particularly in the centreal section from Old Weston to Silverthorn.
The two ends of the park , however, need some real attention.
I'll follow up wtih a subsequent post looking at some priority actions and associated costs.
First some background. SADRA Park is within a narrow hydro corridor which runs NW-SE in the St. Clair - Old Weston Rd.area.
The name, periods and all is an acronym for Silverthorn and District Ratepayers Association.
The park location (aerial photo):
The Park is approximately 1.2ha in size or about 3 acres over a distance of about 370m from Laughton to Old Weston or about 500m including the Allotment Gardens to the west of the latter.
Lets begin, as per the norm, by checking out the City of Toronto page for the park to see what this park claims to be:
Parks & Community Centre Locations
www.toronto.ca
From the above:
That out of the way, let me say, I went in with low expectations as this being a hydro corridor, we know there are restrictions on tree planting and the narrow, linear nature of the park somewhat limits programming options, as does having to work around hydro pylons.
So, I started at the south-east extent of the park, and walked nnorht-west, mid-day, yesterday, August 25th, 2025. Join me on the tour.
Well, I'm not overwhelmed with the start, but on the upside, there's a sign, a garbage can, and the grass is mowed and green. Off the top, some sort of landscape feature here, perennial bed, a few pretty shrubs, or even a fruit tree.....just something, is needed to add some colour, and a sense of the space being cared for........some seating would also be desirable.
Lets continue in....
Looking back from just down the path....my next observation is the weird relationship of the park to the townhomes to the south.
Here we see that the delineation between pubic and private space is a bit unclear. Some properties have a fence, akin to a backyard fence that I can't say I'm overly fond of.....but others lack a fence entirely. Not the end of the world by any means, but a bit messy looking. The main pathway here is 'fine' if utilitarian and obviously aging.
On we go. Next we find the aformentioned Fitness Equipment:
I'm not a fitness equipment connoisseur, but seems fine....though maybe a bit of a brighter colour would have been nice.
I will make note of the odd triangle of grass where two two paths intersect, I'm surprised any has survived. I also note the fence to the left which is the standard over much of the park's length is chain-link, a bit rusty, overgrown and with a lean in spots. I like the idea of ivies on fence, but this is not the right grade of fence to support that, its too much weight.
***
A bit further on, we encounter the ball hockey court.
Seems fit for purpose. Not pretty, doesn't need to be though.....I'm ok w/it, lets move along.
***
We now arrive at Silverthorn Avenue which is a N-S street cutting across the park roughly at the half way point between Old Weston and Laughton .
Now this I like! Good quality brick work that creates a natural traffic calming effect while creating a warm, attractive link between the two park segments.
The condition of the landscaping on the other side of the road, in conjunction w/the bench, I'm less pleased with.....
The shrubs are in desperate need of a trim, I suppose there's some solace to be had in their robust health. The bench has been repaired by carpentry.....woo hoo! One of a few they've repaired here....but maybe someone could have brought the sander and a can of stain or paint?
****
For a hydro corridor, the greenery is a bit better than I expected, it appears hydro has agreed to tolerate short trees here. That could be taken better advantage of ....a small orchard could be an interesting option; if no locals are interesting in harvesting, then maybe just Lilacs or Japanese Maples would be nice.
The playground i up next:
Small'ish, but seems perfectly nice, good use of colour , some seating in good condition and shade structures a well.
I think a smidge more landscaping and some seating on the south-east side would be nice, but otherwise a solid effort here.
***
As we approach Old Weston Road, we encounter a recent Park expansion that occurred in conjunction with an adjacent residential development:
The above is probably the nicest bit of the park, the centre piece is a children's waterplay surrounded by seating in a variety of formats, benches in full sun, benches under a pergola, a picnic table and a pair of brightly coloured mukoka chairs.
A drinking fountain with bottle-filling feature is also present and nice perennial landscaping provides some added flourish.
As we arrive at Old Weston Road, thereis a veryt nice floral feature which is well maintained:
My only issue here is lack of seating. This is is the park main entrance, and has something nice to look at..and zero seats. While this is not typical park for landscaping flourish, the display here, to me, really lends itself to framing the path with curved, continuous benches framed by ornamental grasses.
Finally, we jump to the other side of street (Old Weston) where there isn't much park to speak of....post sign, you'll find an Allotment Garden that could be mistaken for a derelict detention facility with badly aging, over-sized chain link fences to keep the vegetables from escaping. LOL
Lest you think they serve a security purpose, the gate into the garden is unlocked.
Alongside the garden is a modest ~150 m of further trail to a nearby neighbourhood.
The tail end of the trail is rather unceremonious........so I'll ignore it, except to establish just how forgotten this corner of the park is....:
This is your first sight upon enterning the park from the north-west:
Ok, then..... LOL
On that note, I'll close out this review (for this post) by saying there are a suprising number of number of bits of this leftover space park that are actually quite good, particularly in the centreal section from Old Weston to Silverthorn.
The two ends of the park , however, need some real attention.
I'll follow up wtih a subsequent post looking at some priority actions and associated costs.
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