Wanless Park

This island of green space is located in one of the small neighbourhoods of Toronto, just north of Lawrence Avenue between Bayview Avenue and Yonge Street. The park is relatively small in size, with approximately 5 acres of green space.

Recreation
The park is a favourite amongst the neighbouring communities as features an extensive array of fun and recreational activities. Numerous tennis courts, a basketball court, a children’s playground, a wading pool with a lifeguard, a baseball diamond and grass fields. During the winter, a skating rink is installed in the spot of the pool. During the summer, the park is utilized for camps and Ultimate Frisbee tournaments.

Sustainable Initiative
Every April (which is coming soon!) an annual “Clean up a Park Day” take place by the Wanless Park neighbourhood residents. They come out to clean up garbage and clear any non-compostable matter. The day usually falls on the weekend and all of the volunteers are provided with refreshments such as juice, tea and water. In addition, the residents donate and plant trees in the park in the memory of their loved ones. These trees typically have a plaque engraved with a name of their loved one in front of them.


Wanless Park is a great example of how community can encourage and promote sustainability in its city through care for its environment. The idea behind our blog is to inspire more of such green initiatives and instill love for the city's parks and green space.

Riverdale Farm

Located in the heart of downtown community of Cabbagetown, his extrinsic farm offers 7.5 acres of scenic views along the pathways through wooded areas, around ponds, and into butterfly-herb-flower-vegetable gardens. The farm hosts many farm animals such as horses, cows, goats and chickens.


Did you know?

In 1894 the farm opened to become Toronto’s first zoo, but eventually it was closed in 1974 with the animals relocated to the new Toronto Zoo in Scarborough.The park features three buildings that remain from the old Riverdale Zoo! Although the farm isn’t that big in size, it is an urban gem, being located just blocks from the downtown core.

Recreation
Learn and chat with the farmer during daily chores that may include animal feeding, egg collection, cow milking or goat milking, horse grooming, and mucking out the stalls-pens-paddocks. These products will be later sold at a farmer's market.

Bluffers Park

To the east of the city, but West to the historical area of Guildwood, lies one of the most beautiful and breathtaking beaches in the city. The gorge is hidden from the rest of the cities bustling life, with only a few steep stairs to hint at its existence. Bluffers Park boasts pristine sandy beaches, incredible rock formations, and a popular marina, which in the summer time plays host to many recreational activities such as boating, sailing, swimming and more.

Located at the edge of the Scarborough Bluffs at 1 Brimley Road, the park stretches 14km along the Lake Ontario shore from the eastern beach of Toronto to West Hill. Bluffer’s park was designed to improve public access to the waterfront, and is Toronto’s only full service marina in the summertime. Even during the colder months, the park has major hiking trails, including a trail up to the parks highest point, Cathedral Bluffs, which rises 90 meters above Lake Ontario!

Did You Know? The unique geological rock formations of Bluffers park resulted from the accumulation of sedimentary deposits when the Wisconsin Glacier advanced and retreated nearly 12,000 years ago. Natural processes of wind and water erosion from Lake Ontario formed the resulting cliffs. 

Environmental Tip: Taking the TTC or carpooling is much less stressful then taking a car. I hear that parking in the summertime is horrid, apparently drivers get into scraps over parking spots, and it’s not free. The best TTC route is to take the Kingston Road 12 Eastbound bus from Victoria Station. Lessen your carbon footprint, and save your money!

The Don Valley Brick Works Park

Do you enjoy a natural habitat full with history and interesting facts? If so then this is a place you must visit! Located in the Don Valley, The Brick Works is an internationally significant natural and cultural heritage site located within the Don River watershed. The 16.5 (40.7 acre) site is open for public use, education and enjoyment. The park is also known for its hills with exceptional city views.

History

The lower Don has held an important role in the region's history as a place of settlement, agriculture and industry. It became a productive industrial area, valuable for its employment and the goods and services created there. By the late 1800s, improved transportation and abundant resources like water and clay had attracted manufacturers of paper, bricks and beer. Circa 1889 , the Don Valley Pressed Brick Works Company, one of Canada's biggest brickyards, operated at the site where it produced bricks that were used for some of the city's best-known buildings (Hart House, Casa Loma, and Old City Hall, among others). In 1995  the park became a public space, and restoration of the site began. The old quarry has been transformed into a nature park featuring a wild-flower meadow and wetlands, and scenic city views.

Did you know ?

Don Valley Brick Works Park is one of the most important geological sites in North America: the layers of sedimentary rock found in the quarry walls help scientists study the Ice Age, the environment and climate change.

 Evergreen CityWorks

Transforming the urban landscape demands more than isolated problem-solving; it requires innovation and collaboration among diverse sectors. It also requires awareness of the interconnectedness of city infrastructure and systems—from green buildings and sustainable transportation to food, energy, water and waste systems. Evergreen CityWorks will share ideas, engage public and devise a broad range of sustainability solutions.

Get involved in the Brickworks community!

Help create a healthy sustainable future by joining in with the park's initiatives. Get your hands dirty at weekly gardening and stewardship events where you can help growing plants to be later sold at a farmers market. You can also partake in fun activities and events that connect nature and community.

Things to do in March

Explore Singns of Spring from March 11 to March 15, attend a site tour on March 16 and March 17, or come out to the Tastings of Evergreen Farmers Market on March 16.

To find out more about the park visit http://ebw.evergreen.ca/

Grange Park

Grange Park is a prominent public park in downtown Toronto, situated just south of the Art Gallery of Ontario, beside the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU). The Park lends its name to the Grange Park neighbourhood in the vicinity of the park. The park is actually owned by the AGO, but is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.

Recreational activities at the park include a wading pool turned natural ice rink in the winter, a children's playground, and numerous paths for walking or jogging. 


Park’s History
Park was originally a part of estate built by Boulton family in 1820. The Boulton family played an influential role in developing young city of Toronto. Park had paths that were utilized by carriages as means of getting to an estate. These parks remain today as a testament to the heritage. In 1910, Harriette Boulton Smith bequeathed The Grange house and estate to the newly founded Art Gallery of Toronto, for the purposes of building an art museum on the property.

The park currently is undergoing some debates in regards to its proximity to Butterfield Park. The two parks are separated by a fence and debates are under way whether or not to open up this fence and increase traffic as well as build a basketball court. As a result of the debated, the Grange Park Advisory Committee (GPAC) was established. The goal of GPAC is to create a great city and neighbourhood park, and capitalize on projects aimed at the restoration and revitalization of Grange Park, and to advise on an oversight structure for the on-going maintenance. Another focus of the committee is to examine ecological health of the park. Below are are some responsibilities and roles as directly stated by GPAC.

Responsibilities

• Advise on a restoration and revitalization plan for Grange Park that will be green, strikingly beautiful, resilient, sustainable, accessible, interactive as well as providing a place for contemplation while welcoming all neighbours, residents and visitors to our community by utilizing design excellence, state of the art conservation techniques and outstanding works of art.

• Advise on an ongoing structure after the initial project to ensure that Grange Park is sustained at a consistently high level: well-tended, healthy lawns, shrubs and trees, gardens; well maintained park furniture and works of art; active program of recreational and community activities; and a safe environment especially for children, seniors and people with disabilities; pay tribute to the unique ethno-racial heritage in the community; utilize water features in park amenities.

Roles

• As the Institutional advocate for the Grange Park Project, the AGO will be financially and legally accountable for the project.
• Facilitate the work of the Grange Park Project Committee
• Administer GPP funds including fundraising and the establishment of an endowment fund for ongoing maintenance.

Vision for Grange Park: “To undertake a restoration and revitalization plan that will make Grange Park green, strikingly beautiful, resilient, sustainable and accessible. To create a park that is interactive as well as a place for contemplation.To create a park that welcomes all neighbours, residents and visitors to our community by utilizing design excellence, state of the art conservation techniques and outstanding works of art.”

To learn more about the park and how to get involved in its greening initiative go to http://grangeparktoronto.ca/

Tommy Thompson Park

Situated on a man-made peninsula called the Leslie Street Spit, Tommy Thompson Park is an urban wilderness located a few steps away from Toronto's downtown. The Leslie Spit construction began in the 1950's where the area became filled with concrete, dredged sand and construction debris. It now stretches 5 kilometers into the lake. The spit along with the park are owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.

Tommy Thompson Park is known as the largest existing natural habitat on the Toronto waterfront. Wildflower meadows, cottonwood forests, coastal marshes, cobble beaches and sand dunes are just some of the existent habitats. Presence of flourishing nature and wildlife makes up for one extraordinary nature-watching site in Toronto. In addition to an impressive natural habitat, the park provides an opportunity to engage in various recreational activities including hiking, cycling, rollerblading and fishing.


Things to do in March
Tommy Thompson is an admirable place to experience the great outdoors. The park is arguably the best in the city bird-watching spot, with over 300 observable species. Also, the park hosts a system of hiking trails and cycling paths which both make up for great spring-time activities. In addition to above activities, the location of the park provides unobscured and picturesque views of the Toronto's famous skyline.

Bird Sanctuary
The Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station (TTPBRS) was established in 2003 for protection of birds and their habitats through monitoring, education and research. It is an initiative started by Toronto and Regional Conservation. The bird sanctuary at the park is recognized as a globally significant Important Bird Area or IBA by Birdlife International. The close proximity to a large city and integration of urban wilderness makes the park an ideal venue for bird studies. Education is central to the sanctuary's operations and for this purpose they have developed a curriculum-based program for schools called Winged Migration which provides children with an interactive and exploratory introduction to the world of birds, ecology and conservation. In addition to this program, the TTPBRS offers regular talks and bird banding demonstrations to the general public. The research also runs a number of monitoring and conservation projects. To find out more about the program, you can go to http://www.tommythompsonpark.ca/ttpbrs/index.dot

Natural Heritage

Tommy Thompson Park has developed into a complex of habitats and diverse communities of flora and fauna species. The complex of plant communities found at the park, as well as the rare and significant plant species are a result of the highly variable soil of the site. Because the site was formed through the dumping of construction residues, soil fertility and composition can vary dramatically within very small areas. The area's diverse biological communities and location on Lake Ontario make it an important stopover point for migrating birds, butterflies and other insects.

Seasonal pools are also important breeding areas for amphibians. Although the upland areas do not currently support a great variety of amphibians, as the wooded communities mature, the park has the potential to be one of the few locations across the waterfront capable of supporting woodland dependent amphibians. The ecological value of Tommy Thompson will continue to increase dramatically as the habitat communities mature, and as the lands are enhanced through new and continuing restoration projects.

Habitat Restoration

Toronto and Region Conservation is an industry leader in habitat creation and restoration. The goals
of restoration work at Tommy Thompson Park are to preserve rare species, protect environmentally
significant areas and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitat. This approach integrates a variety of
wildlife habitats and areas of natural succession to create functional habitats.

For more information visit http://www.tommythompsonpark.ca/