FARM Committee 22 February.

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CanAsian said:
So after decade of waiting for this park to be in fruition ended up for nothing huh? Typical Toronto.
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Bit more complicated than that.............

Limited amount I can share..........that isn't already public

The public part is informative, if not comprehensive.
 
smably said:
Can anyone shed some light on why this is the case? It seems like the Inner Harbour West Tunnel is in design and moving ahead, so is this just a matter of having chosen a different location for this storage shaft? And if that's the case, what's the new location?
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Extremely belated update on this in case anyone else was curious. I couldn't let this go, so I followed up on an email I'd sent back in January and got this back from a senior engineer on the project:
The Inner Harbour West Tunnel project is currently in the design phase, and is anticipated to start construction in 2029. Through the design process, an opportunity was identified to eliminate the storage shaft within Rees Street Park, while still meeting the overall storage requirements for the system within the tunnel itself and the other shaft locations. No additional shafts have been added to the project at this time.
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There you have it!
 
So, I'm leafing through the Parks Capital Budget details.................

The 'design' of this park is again in the budget:

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That is 2025, 2026 and 2027 above.

*****

What happened to the construction you ask?

Don't shoot the messenger....

This number: (16.6M) shows up............... in 2034....
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Update, I found the slightly more detailed note on this project:

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The green means its tracking on time and on budget! LOL............. seriously, we should all get to re-baseline our assumptions to fit our abilities.

My reading of the above suggests that buried in the design money may be funds to do a 'Sugar Wharf' treatment here, with a very basic park as an interim condition.

***

FWIW, the removal of the Toronto Water project did not require any substantial change to the design of the park, though it allows for one; and that is not the reason the previously selected design was spiked.

I think that's all I will say about that for now.
 
I'm saddened to hear about the death of this park. I was looking forward to it.

LUVIT! said:
I rarely say no to parkland. However Ido say no to parkland here. A continuation the urban streetwll here would be refreshing. Perhaps with more of a set back from Queen's Quay with a a wide sidewalk with plenty of seating and a double row of trees with a walkway between. I'd say a linear green walk with shops and a 'break' in the centre to allow for a connection between the two towers with more shops down the centre spine? Just throwing an idea out there.
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I attended a community meeting for this park way back in 1931 or thereabouts, and someone proposed residential development and was quickly shot down by Waterfront Toronto because any tall structures here would block the iconic skyline view of the Dome and CN Tower. I don't recall if it was city policy or if it was Waterfront Toronto preference to preserve this view. I posted a question in the Rogers Centre thread about the dock and parking lot development potential or lack thereof for the same reason.

I'm not opposed to residential use on the north side of much of Queens Quay but 25 years into this redevelopment and the central waterfront has turned into very little parkland. A lot of paved squares and a tree corridor flanked by more paving. Even the streetcar ROW was paved over instead of greened. It's kind of shocking how little green space was leftover after WT's mandate for the central waterfront is nearly complete. How did we let this happen?

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So yeah, Rees Park is our last chance to correct this imbalance and it still won't be enough. Rees Park should become HTO Park North and treated as a continuous park, including Queens Quay road paving that connects north and south with a single narrow car lane in each direction.

A hill that blocks out the noise from the Gardiner and Lakeshore was the perfect solution here, though I didn't like how much the most recent plan included even more concrete and paved spaces. The central waterfront is never going to get a Trinity Bellwoods Park but it still has a chance to get a hill and lawn with less programmed space that's 99% green space. Think the Music Garden's terraced lawn but on a 10X scale with room for Torontonians to plop down and enjoy the lake view.

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Did anyone notice this from capital variance report approved by council (page 5)? @Northern Light
Park will be ready- in 10 years!! It also now apparently includes aquatic centre. At least the pop-up will be done this year. But why is the design competition happening in 2028? That's still three years away.
Anticipated Schedule:
Pop-up Park:
Plan/Design: Apr-Sept 2025
Construction: Sept 2025- May 2026
Park and Aquatic Centre
Design Competition:
Start: 2028
Complete: 2029
Detailed Design: 2029-2031
AC/Park Constrution: 2031- 2035
 
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Toronto1834 said:
Did anyone notice this from capital variance report approved by council (page 5)? @Northern Light
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I hadn't noticed, ty for the pointer. Keen observation.

Toronto1834 said:
Park will be ready- in 10 years!! It also now apparently includes aquatic centre. At least the pop-up will be done this year. But why is the design competition happening in 2028? That's still three years away.
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I don't know for sure, but my guess is that the aquatic facility being an addition completely blew the projected budget, so they pushed it out.

The initial design (pop up) is about minor details, relatively, that impact how much area the planned facility consumes, and creating a broad budget.

The design competition is really 'flourish' and the budget a designer has to work with..........

Toronto1834 said:
Anticipated Schedule:
Pop-up Park:
Plan/Design: Apr-Sept 2025
Construction: Sept 2025- May 2026
Park and Aquatic Centre
Design Competition:
Start: 2028
Complete: 2029
Detailed Design: 2029-2031
AC/Park Constrution: 2031- 2035
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The City has been looking everywhere for a spot for an outdoor pool (and and indoor one) for the south Downtown/waterfront community.

A big pool (or pools) likely Olympic in size whether as one pool or two, takes a lot of land area.

They didn't previously consider Rees a viable option, in part due to the intrusion of Toronto Water and Enwave.

To the extent these are no longer an issue, I can see the idea. For the record, I disagree.

I worked hard to get the City to reconsider this park entirely, in favour of more Lake-side parkland.

I don't think I should put out the details of what was discussed, except to say I would put have put this land on the market, and had the City use the proceeds to offset the cost of picking up new land on the south side.

I just don't think a park in the shadow of the Gardiner is a great idea.

The City lacks creative and bold ambition at times............sigh.
 
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Thanks for that background. The project budget is pretty substantial at $22 million, but point taken, with the addition of the aquatic centre it would need to be adjusted. I'm assuming the pop-up park will be more than just some paint on the existing parking lot since its construction timeline is September to May. Might it be more like a base park condition similar to Sugar Wharf? Also, the city just built a public pool at the One Yonge Rec Centre which is not that far away.
 
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