Reason to Love Toronto: because we build parks under our expressways

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday drew the ire of urbanites during a recent council debate when he said that downtown was no place to raise kids. “Where’s little Ginny?” he asked rhetorically. “Well, she’s downstairs playing in the traffic on her way to the park.” The design geeks at Waterfront Toronto don’t want Ginny to play in traffic, either, but they do want her to play under it. The organization’s latest revitalization project is Underpass Park, a boldly imaginative public space that features a playground, a skate park and a basketball court tucked under the Eastern Avenue, Adelaide Street and Richmond Street overpasses just west of the DVP. The one-hectare park, designed by Vancouver’s Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg (the landscape architects behind the award-winning Sherbourne Common to the south), turns a cold, dark, claustrophobic tract of land into an unexpectedly lively space. Looking east, giant concrete pillars recede into the distance like an industrial echo, providing a dramatic backdrop for basketball players and skateboarders; further west, the overpasses bow out from each other, creating an elliptical opening through which sunlight descends onto a swatch of grass and trees and futuristic climbing structures, all of it brightened by carefully positioned mirrors and an LED lighting system. Like the roads that snake overhead, the park connects streets, buildings and people previously cut off from each other. It also sends a vital message to both visitors and residents: this is downtown, and downtown is beautiful.
I agree it’s a great little park. But it’s *really* hard to find. Google maps sends you zooming overhead. There’s a lot of one way streets in the area, access blocked by construction, and zero signage for the park (as of 3 weeks ago). It took a really determined hunt and a lot of wrong turns for us to find this secret little gem.
This whole area is getting revitalized, thus the reason why some roads (River/Queen East, sections of Eastern) are closed. In a few years when the PanAm Village is built, the location will be buzzing with visitors. The adjacent WDL park will be opening in late 2013 and that alone will draw people to come and visit. This will be another ‘spot’ to take a picture of the city in the background.
Can’t wait to see what that basketball court is going to look like next year.
Its ok for under a bridge design….my kids liked the climbing web, but the swings were too low…made for up to a 4yr old, so we had to flip them over the bar to bring up the seats. Needs some colour or more plants as a suggestion. Interesting idea and the kids did enjoy it. There is space for a splash pad, but Im not sure what will become of the empty space there. Otherwise, if im watching the kids, i would prefer a real park with grass and trees, but like i said the kids enjoyed it, though i will still take them where there is more nature even though we are a short walk from this underpass bridge.