/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
Culture

Reasons to Love Toronto Now: because we have a magical mystery maze on Centre Island

By Bronwen Jervis
Copy link
(Image: Peter Andrew)
(Image: Peter Andrew)

In 1967, amid the confetti and trumpets of Canada’s centennial celebrations, Toronto’s Dutch community made its own contribution to the festivities: 2,000 White Highland cedars, arranged in an orderly hedge maze on Centre Island and christened with a vigorous clog-dancing party. For decades, the maze enticed kids with its Wonderlandian whimsy, but years of neglect and a lack of sunlight eventually shrivelled the trees into dry brown kindling, and the city razed the patch in 2011. The following summer, William Meany, a wealthy Calgary businessman, brought a group of associates to the Island; he’d loved the maze as a kid and had spent the entire ferry ride hyping it up. When he saw it was gone, he called the city to get the story—and ended up offering $200,000 out of pocket to rebuild it from scratch. The new maze, set to open this month, consists of 1,300 black cedars planted by boy scouts and Toronto Islanders in a lush, twisting 15,000-square-foot labyrinth just west of the original location. It strikes that fairy-tale balance between shimmery magic and Gothic menace—challenging enough to be satisfying but solvable enough not to terrify school-agers. The deeper you get, the more it seems like you might never find your way out.

THIS CITY

Obsessive coverage of Toronto, straight to your inbox

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Big Stories

The $4-Million Girlfriend Experience: The thief, the cam girl and their whirlwind fraudulent romance
Deep Dives

The $4-Million Girlfriend Experience: The thief, the cam girl and their whirlwind fraudulent romance

Inside the Latest Issue

The July issue of Toronto Life features a behind-the-curtain look at the insatiable political ambitions of Doug Ford. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.