Feast your eyes on a massive new park the city wants to build downtown

Earlier this afternoon, mayor John Tory announced that the city is investigating the possibility of creating 21 acres of new downtown park land, essentially out of thin air. The city would build a layer of decking over the top of the railroad tracks that run between Blue Jays Way and Bathurst Street, south of Front Street West. On top of the new decking, there would be greenery, frolicking, rejoicing, etc. Beneath the decking, GO trains would continue to run as usual. If built as planned, the park would be the first of its kind in Toronto: an elevated recreational space that would connect condo communities north of the tracks with the waterfront to the south.

The new park is far from a done deal. The purpose of today’s announcement was only to broadcast the fact that the city is studying the idea. A staff report is due in September. Building the park would require an Official Plan amendment, and the city would potentially need to negotiate with Metrolinx, which owns the train tracks, and Toronto Terminal Railways and CN, which own the air rights above the tracks. No specific funding has been announced for the project, and Tory has so far refused to speculate on when it might be completed.

No matter what ends up happening, though, we’ll always have these amazing renderings. Take a look: