Sherbourne Common’s splash pad is one of the striking features of the multi-purpose park. The 920-square metre splash pad, located in front of the park’s zinc-clad pavilion, is made of sandblasted concrete embedded with cooling tubes.  Forty-four water jets made of stainless steel are included within the concrete slab – which doubles as a skating rink in the winter – along  with linear diffusers that shoot water upward.

At Canada’s Sugar Beach, located a few meters west of Sherbourne Common,  twenty-seven dynamic water jets are embedded in a large, granite maple leaf beside the beach. The water jets are designed and programmed to give a cascading water effect at different heights. At night, the water jets display a variety of bright colours projected by dozens of LED lights.

Sherbourne Common and Canada’s Sugar Beach — popular new additions to the waterfront — have been widely recognized for their design excellence. The parks and their water features are operated by the City of Toronto’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation Department and will be open through Labour Day.

AZ Awards are issued to designers and architects that have demonstrated exceptional creativity in achieving best concept and product designs.

From Wednesday, April 11, members of the public will be able to vote for their favourites designs. Deadline to cast your vote is Friday, May 4, by midnight EST.  The People’s Choice award winner will be announced during the AZ AWARDS gala presentation, which will take place in Toronto on June 7.

Canada’s Sugar Beach was built as part of Toronto’s waterfront revitalization. Located at the foot of lower Jarvis Street, south of Queens Quay, Canada’s Sugar Beach transformed a former industrial area into a fun, dynamic space.

Designed by Claude Cormier + Associés, the park’s features include a number of  Muskoka chairs, signature pink umbrellas, soft sand and an interactive water feature embedded in a granite maple leaf, which makes cooling off fun for adults and children.

How do I vote for Canada’s Sugar Beach? Click here to register and cast your vote.

The episode follows David Suzuki and his daughter Sarika Cullis-Suzuki as they travel across Canada in a trailer in an attempt to discover if some of the biggest Canadian cities are ready for the challenges of the future. On their Toronto stop, David and Sarika park their trailer on the waterfront to learn more about the various projects that are underway as part of the revitalization initiative.

Guided by Waterfront Toronto President and CEO John Campbell and Parks Director James Roche, David and Sarika tour the East Bayfront precinct, including Sherbourne Common and its neighbourhood-wide storm and lake water treatment facility. In the West Don lands David and Sarika visit Don River Park which is being built on top of a flood protection landform and they learn how Waterfront Toronto is transforming derelict and unused space beneath a series of overpasses into a community park.

The episode aired on Thursday, February 16 at 8PM on CBC-TV and will air again on Thursday, February 23 at 10PM on CBC-News Network; and on Sunday, February 26 at 6PM on CBC-News Network.  To watch the episode online, follow the link – http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episode/suzuki-diaries-future-city.html

The goal of the initiative is to deliver a high-level road map for accelerating development and maximizing the value of the Port Lands as a unique city legacy. The undertaking is the result of Toronto City Council’s September 21 unanimous decision for Waterfront Toronto in conjunction with the City of Toronto to lead a review of the Port Lands and to ensure the process is informed by extensive public consultation.

An initial public meeting is being held from 6:30pm to 9:00pm on Monday December 12 at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street. The meeting will include a summary of the work to date, the goals for the Port Lands initiative and an overview of acceleration opportunities and challenges for development.  The meeting will provide the public with an opportunity to ask questions and discuss their goals and ideas for the Port Lands.

“The work being undertaken is an opportunity to seize the full potential of these lands and to deliver development of enduring value and legacy to the people of Toronto,” said Councillor Peter Milczyn, chair of the City’s Planning and Growth Committee. “It is a first step in realizing our joint objective of creating one of the world’s great waterfronts.”

The work is a highly collaborative process. Waterfront Toronto and the City are working closely with Toronto and Region Conservation and seeking input from other agencies such as The Toronto Port Lands Company and the Toronto Port Authority.  Stakeholders such as land owners, tenants, port users and sector specific groups are being engaged throughout the process.

Work on the Port Lands acceleration initiative is well underway. A series of technical working groups are examining key issues including land use and design, infrastructure and constructability, and real estate development and financing.  Waterfront Toronto has also issued or will be issuing a number of Requests for Proposals to competitively procure the required technical expertise.

“Our intent is to take a fresh and wide-ranging look at the challenges and opportunities of developing the Port Lands, including examining phasing options, higher-value interim uses, and the feasibility of modifying or removing existing constraints,” said Waterfront Toronto President and CEO John Campbell.

The comprehensive undertaking builds on the large body of work delivered to date on the Port Lands and Lower Don Lands and explores new ideas and creative solutions. The project includes:

• Further examining the options for the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Environmental Assessment (EA) within the EA’s terms of reference, by reviewing costing and exploring options for value enhancements through such things as alternative construction approaches and project phasing, and by increasing the development potential of surrounding lands;
• Identifying financial and policy tools, incentives, and delivery mechanisms that enable development and offset or reduce the initial public sector investment needed to provide required infrastructure such as roads, services, utilities and flood protection;
• Exploring opportunities to increase private sector investment involvement; and
• Ensuring that the plan delivers a great waterfront for people to live, work and play.

Public consultation will play a central role in the creation of the go forward plan for the Port Lands and will include traditional in-person public meetings and interactive social media and/or web enabled consultations. The on-line consultation initiative is expected to launch early in 2012. In addition to the December 12 meeting, two rounds of public consultation are planned to be held throughout the city in 2012.

The final report on the results of the Port Lands review is expected to be completed for the June 2012 City Council meeting. On January 24, 2012 the City and Waterfront Toronto will provide City Council’s Executive Committee with a report on required funding for the review.

The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.7 million people. Toronto’s government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Media contacts:

Michelle Noble, Waterfront Toronto, 647-288-8048

Wynna Brown, City of Toronto, 416-392-8937

The blog surveyed international green spaces for the best in emerging standards for design in the public sphere. Sherbourne Common shares the list with eight other spaces from countries across the globe.

Sherbourne Common is a unique park that seamlessly blends art and innovation. Located in the heart of the new East Bayfront neighbourhood, Sherbourne Common is far more than the area’s main park. It is the first park in Canada to incorporate a neighbourhood-wide stormwater treatment facility. Public art is integrated with the water infrastructure to create a public space that is as beautiful as it is functional. The park also features a splash pad that’s a skating rink in the winter months, a playground, an open green space and a pavilion.

The Atlantic Cities explores innovative ideas and issues facing today’s global cities and neighborhoods. Last month, the blog also ranked Underpass Park at the top of its list of Nine Cool Projects Under Freeway Overpasses.

The City of Toronto’s Urban Design Awards recognize and acknowledge the significant contribution that architects, landscape architects, urban designers, artists, design students, and city builders make to the look and livability of Toronto. This year’s competition drew a record 129 entries in nine categories.

The Large Places or Neighbourhood Designs category honours major areas of innovation that also provide evidence of community involvement and acceptance for large parks, area plans, subdivisions, industrial parks, campus plans and streetscapes. Canada’s Sugar Beach, designed by Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes in association with the Planning Partnership, transformed a parking lot and a neglected part of the waterfront to a park that has attracted thousands of people to the area since it opened in August 2010. The park features three distinct components: an urban beach; a plaza space; and a tree-lined promenade running diagonally through the park. The jury stated, “in every way, Canada’s Sugar Beach represents a superb addition to the city’s public realm, creating an intimate but spacious vantage point from which to enjoy the harbor.”
The Elements category recognizes a stand-alone object, landscape element or small-scale piece of a building which contributes significantly to the quality of the public realm.  The central park of the Easy Bayfront community, Sherbourne Common was completed in two phases that opened in September 2010 and July 2011. Teeple Architects designed the Sherbourne Common Pavilion, a building that provides vital functions for the park while being a stunning structure that enlivens the space with its blue-grey exterior and architecture features, that as the jury noted, “create a striking new gateway to the waterfront while providing useful public space functions. The angular, low-slung design, which references Frank Gehry, ensures that the structure serves as a strong visual counterpoint to the diverse landscape that surrounds it.”

Since 2005, Waterfront Toronto has received nine Toronto Urban Design Awards.  Design excellence is a core priority for Waterfront Toronto. The organization’s goal is that everything built on Toronto’s waterfront — from buildings to streets to parks and public art — will set new standards for architecture and public space.

To help achieve and uphold its standards for design excellence, Waterfront Toronto hosts international design competitions, works with some of world’s top architects and landscape designers and incorporates urban design as an important component in its environmental assessment process. The Waterfront Design Review Panel, an independent body comprised of some of Canada’s most prestigious architects and planners also guides and informs the organization’s projects.

Toronto – Waterfront Toronto and Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) together with the Governments of Canada, Ontario and the City of Toronto officially launched construction of the final phase of Mimico Waterfront Park today.

Located on the shore of Lake Ontario in Etobicoke, Mimico Waterfront Park connects people to the water across a lakefront area that historically has lacked public access to the waterfront.  When completed in 2012 the park will provide 1.1 kilometer of linear waterfront park space between Norris Crescent Parkette and Humber Bay Park West.

Waterfront Toronto opened the first 600 meter western portion of the park in 2008. The final 500 meters of linear park will enable Torontonians to enjoy the lakefront west of Humber Bay Park West for the first time and will provide the missing link in the city’s waterfront trail system.

“As Federal Minister responsible for the GTA and the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Initiative, I am pleased once again that our government is part of this remarkable transformation along Toronto’s lakeshore,” said Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. “When completed, Mimico Waterfront Park will be an inviting and open community hub that will make a vital contribution to the overall prosperity and lifestyles of the residents and businesses of the waterfront.”

“We know that when we invest in Toronto’s waterfront we will see tangible returns.  At the same time, the investment in Mimico Waterfront Park will act as a catalyst for the local economy,” said Bernard Trottier, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke—Lakeshore.  “It is good to see this proud community along our waterfront evolving into the vibrant, exciting destination it deserves to be.”

“Today’s official start of Phase Two of the redevelopment of Mimico Waterfront Park is exciting for the residents and businesses of Etobicoke-Lakeshore who have always appreciated our community’s unique location, public spaces and access to the waterfront trails and parks,”  said Laurel Broten, MPP, Etobicoke-Lakeshore. “Moving forward with Mimico Waterfront Park is a key element of our strategy to revitalize and strengthen our lakeshore community and ensure that this wonderful natural legacy will be appreciated by families for generations to come.”

“Mimico Waterfront Park is an important local asset that enhances and strengthens the local community,” said Mark Grimes, Councillor for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. “Phase Two is the missing link that will extend and connect the waterfront and improve access for all park users. It will also provide an economic boost to local businesses by attracting visitors and additional investment in the area.”

Mimico Waterfront Park is an important asset in enhancing and strengthening the local community. Mimico is a community that the City of Toronto has targeted for revitalization;  creating more and better waterfront park space is one of the strategies the City has identified to help attract investment in the area.

“One of Waterfront Toronto’s primary objectives is to leverage investment in parks and public spaces to deliver key economic and social benefits,” said Mark Wilson, Chair, Waterfront Toronto. “The investment in Mimico Waterfront Park will deliver far more than much needed waterfront public space. It is also a catalyst for re-invigorating the local economy.”

The first phase of the park has been well received and well used by local residents since it opened in 2008.  The new park has also helped attract new businesses and residents to Mimico. The final phase of the project is expected to help further revitalize the area.

TRCA is an integral partner for Waterfront Toronto in the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront and is responsible for the planning and building of the park.

“Mimico Waterfront Park was planned and designed by the citizens of this community for the use and enjoyment of the citizens of this community.  We are proud to have worked beside our local stakeholders toward the revitalization in this historic part of the city” said Brian Denney, Chief Administrative Officer of TRCA.

As with all Waterfront Toronto projects, sustainability is a key feature of Mimico Waterfront Park.  The park was designed with the native ecology of the area in mind and it includes features that benefit residents as well as the local aquatic and terrestrial habitats.

The second phase of the park builds east from the first phase and will provide linear water’s edge public space that connects existing local parks. The park is being constructed through a lakefilling process along a narrow section of the existing shoreline.

Phase Two begins at Superior Avenue in the west and extends the waterfront trail and public waterfront access to Humber Bay Park West in the east. The park’s features include an additional 500 metres of waterfront trail, 250 metres of cantilevered pedestrian boardwalk, a separate multi-use trail located along the backshore that provides cycling and in-line skating access adjacent to the boardwalk, small pockets of wetland habitat, landscaping and park lighting.

The total project budget for Mimico Waterfront Park is $18.6 million dollars of which $6.9 million has been committed by the City of Toronto, $6.2 million by the Province of Ontario and $5.5 million by the Government of Canada. The budget for the second phase of Mimico Waterfront Park is $8.4 million.
Waterfront Toronto has made major strides in revitalizing Toronto’s waterfront. In addition to building and improving 17 parks and public spaces, Waterfront Toronto has finalized development agreements with Great Gulf Group of Companies, Urban Capital and Hines for private sector projects on the waterfront, as well as with George Brown College for the development of their new state-of-the-art Health Sciences campus.

The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

Media kit:
Mimico Waterfront Park – Fact Sheet

Media Contact:
Tari Stork, Manager, Project Communications, Waterfront Toronto
T: 416-214-1344 x 279 / C: 416-414-1577 / tstork@waterfrontoronto.ca

On June 7, Waterfront Toronto and its new telecommunications partner will share their plans to wire Toronto’s new waterfront communities with the latest in smart technology infrastructure and make them among the most connected in the world. The briefing will provide an overview of the project, and its significance for Toronto’s waterfront revitalization and economic development in Toronto and Ontario.

WHO:

John Campbell, President and CEO, Waterfront Toronto
Dan Armstrong, President and CEO, Beanfield Metroconnects
Evan Kelly, Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
John Jung, Chair and Co-founder, Intelligent Community Forum, and CEO, Canada Technology Triangle
Michael Thompson, Toronto City Councillor, and Chair, City of Toronto Economic Development Committee (to be confirmed)

WHAT: Media Briefing

WHEN: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11a.m.

WHERE: Corus Entertainment, 8^th Floor Lounge

Corus Quay
25 Dockside Drive
Toronto, Ontario

For more information:
Michelle Noble, Communications & Marketing Director, Waterfront Toronto, 416-214-1344 ext.263

Globetrotters Flight Time Lang and Wun “The Shot” Versher took 4-point shots – over water – from the charter vessel River Gambler to a basketball hoop positioned on Canada’s Sugar Beach. A crowd of 100 local school children gathered around the hoop and cheered the players as they both succeeded in making 4-point shots.

The always innovative globetrotters unveiled the 4-point shot, which is 10.67 meters (35 feet) from the basket and 3.66 meters (12 feet) beyond the NBA 3-point line, in 2010. Every game on the world famous basketball showmen’s 2011 North American Tour features the shot.

Following the shooting exhibition on Canada’s Sugar Beach, the school children joined the Globetrotters on board the River Gambler to learn about character education.

Federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty, Toronto City Councillor Pam McConnell, Chair of Waterfront Toronto Mark Wilson and Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation Glen Murray officially open Sherbourne Common.

Located in the heart of the new East Bayfront neighbourhood, the south side of Sherbourne Common, which opened today, stretches more than a hectare from Lake Ontario to Queens Quay. When the north side of the park opens later this fall, the 1.5 hectare park will cover two city blocks from the water’s edge to Lake Shore Boulevard.

With development growing all around it, including George Brown College on its western edge, the newly approved Hines Bayside development to its east and flanked by Great Gulf’s Parkside development to the north, Sherbourne Common will become the heart of this new community and a major civic destination.

More than just a beautiful public space, Sherbourne Common is also the first park in Canada to integrate an ultraviolet (UV) treatment facility for neighbourhood-wide stormwater treatment into its design. Collected stormwater is treated in a UV Facility located in the basement of the park’s Pavilion and released from three dramatic art features into a 240-metre long water channel — or urban river — and back out to Lake Ontario.

“Today’s opening demonstrates the importance of Federal government participation in the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront,” said Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. “The federal government’s $27 million contribution to this beautiful and innovative park supports a unique venue that will become a landmark not only for Torontonians but all Canadians.”

“The Government of Ontario is proud to be a partner in this vibrant, and sustainable public space that makes Toronto, and Ontario, a great place to work, live, play and visit,” said Glen Murray, Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation and Member of Provincial Parliament for Toronto Centre. “This project supports the Open Ontario initiative by creating jobs and enhancing the quality of life for Ontarians.”

“Building a new waterfront means leading with public spaces first, and Sherbourne Common is one of Toronto’s most imaginative parks in decades — utilizing many water features from Lake Shore Boulevard to the water’s edge,” said Mayor David Miller.

Sherbourne Common offers something for everyone and will bring people to this formerly industrial part of the waterfront all year-round. Designed by renowned Canadian landscape architect Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg to be both a city-wide destination and neighbourhood amenity, Sherbourne Common features wide open greenspace on the south side of the park providing ample space for festivals, concerts and other city-wide events overlooking Lake Ontario.

“Today we are opening another must-see park on Toronto’s waterfront,” said Mark Wilson, Chair, Waterfront Toronto. “By combining required municipal infrastructure with excellence in design, architecture and public art, Sherbourne Common offers a new model for city-builders nationwide and a fabulous year-round destination.”

In addition to the urban river that runs the length of the park, a 920m2 pond will be frozen for a winter skating rink and act as a splash pad for summer waterplay. Surrounding the pond, a zinc-clad, architecturally award-winning Pavilion offers restrooms and will house a café as the neighbourhood develops.  Teeple Architects Inc. designed the Pavilion, Jill Anholt is the public artist and The Municipal Infrastructure Group engineered the park’s UV Facility. The local consultant is The Planning Partnership.

Chosen after an online public naming contest, the name ‘Sherbourne Common’ reflects the idea that parks and public spaces should belong to the people. Launched earlier this year, the month-and-a-half long public naming contest received more than 500 submissions and thousands of votes from people across Canada.

The budget for Sherbourne Common — both the north and south sides of the park — including site preparation costs (demolition and soil remediation) and design and construction costs for the park, water channel and UV Facility is $28.7 million plus an additional $1.9 million for the public art features.

Revitalization efforts are well underway across the waterfront.

•    In East Bayfront Canada’s Sugar Beach, the first phase of water’s edge promenade and the new headquarters for Corus Entertainment are now open. Construction continues on the George Brown College Waterfront Campus which will welcome students in September 2012 and in August, Toronto City Council overwhelmingly approved Waterfront Toronto’s development agreement with Hines for Bayside — an $800 million private sector investment on the waterfront.
•    In the West Don Lands, Toronto Community Housing has begun construction on the area’s first affordable housing complex, and construction is underway on Don River Park.

Plans for the Lower Don Lands were endorsed by Toronto City Council this summer and In the Central Waterfront, the first phase of construction to revitalize Queens Quay will begin next year.

Waterfront Toronto
The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

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Media Contacts:
•    Samantha Gileno, Waterfront Toronto 416-214-1344 x264 or 416-271-1316
•    Annette Robertson, Press Secretary, Department of Finance Canada, Minister’s Office 613-996-7861
•    Stuart Green, Deputy Director of Communications, Office of the Mayor 416-338-7119

Media Kit:
NEWS RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE – French
SHERBOURNE COMMON FACT SHEET
EAST BAYFRONT BACKGROUNDER

For more information, visit the Sherbourne Common project page.

Image Gallery:
High-resolution renderings are available for download below.

A south looking view of Sherbourne Common and the park's Pavilion.

Sherbourne Common's Water Channel with Biofiltration Bed

Toronto City Councillor Pam McConnell, Chair of Waterfront Toronto Mark Wilson, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation Glen Murray and Federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty officially cut the ribbon at the opening of Sherbourne Common.

Park visitors enjoy the new water channel at the official opening of Sherbourne Common.