15 new parks that are coming to Toronto (RENDERINGS)

With more and more new developments going up by the day, it can feel like Toronto is getting more built up by the second, but thanks to quite a few new parks, it’s also getting greener too.

Toronto has tons of under-construction and proposed new parks right now that city dwellers will hopefully get to use very soon. So if you’re curious about what new spots you can catch a few rays or sit down with a good book, here are 15 parks that are coming to Toronto.

Leslie Slip Lookout Park

Planned for the east end of Toronto’s waterfront, the Leslie Slip Lookout Park won’t just be your typical grassy park — it’ll have a beach, too. Park plans include a 1.9-acre open space with a viewing platform where you can get an elevated look at the Toronto skyline. The project is currently undergoing community consultations.

Love Park

At the northeast corner of York Street and Queens Quay West, this park is for everyone who really loves love. The space will be oozing with symbols of love, including a large heart-shaped pond, pink heart-shaped flowers, and a pink glowing heart designed so that it looks like it’s floating in the air.

Richmond Street Park

A parking lot between Adelaide and Richmond in downtown Toronto will be transformed into a new 24,000 sq ft park space, making it the first new, large park in the King-Spadina area in 20 years. It will go up next to a proposed high-rise building and the high-rise developers will pay for the construction of the park.

Port Lands Flood Project Waterfront Parks

Near where the Don River meets the lake, two brand new Toronto parks with trails and forest swings are underway as part of the Port Lands Flood Protection project. The new Toronto parks, which have been in the works since 2007, will be called Promontory Park South and River Valley Park North/South.

The Promontory Park will have an event lawn and plaza; harbour esplanade; marine terminal 35 building commemoration; a promontory; and a destination play area, contingent on fundraising. River Valley Park is set to include a nature play area, picnic area; picnic lawn; dog off-leash areas; entry plaza with indoor amenities; and bike bridges.

Queen West Park

A former KFC and sneaker store on Queen Street West are being torn down and turned into a brand new park. The City has already purchased the land but details on what exactly will be built in the park have not yet been released.

University Park

A new 90-acre park is planned for University Avenue and will run from Queen’s Park down to the waterfront. The new green space will feature pedestrian walkways, bike paths, and the restoration of Taddle Creek — a now buried stream that used to flow from St Clair all the way down to the Toronto Harbour.

St. James Town West Park Redesign

An already existing Toronto park is set to get a major overhaul. St James Town West Parl, on Sherbourne Street just south of Bloor, is going to be totally gutted and has two new designs proposed for it, both of which feature a kids’ play area and Indigenous art. One, interestingly, proposes a floating halo light above the park, which would certainly make it stand out in Toronto.

Villiers Island Park

A brand new island community is being built in Toronto where the Don River meets the lake, and it’s set to include a brand new park and public space that will occupy about 34 acres of land. The Promontory Park on the western edge of the island will provide scenic views of the Toronto Skyline.

• See also:
  • Here’s what the demolished Honest Ed’s site looks like now (PHOTOS)
  • 22-storey vertical forest planned for Toronto Annex development

Nathan Phillips Square Indigenous Spirit Garden

Right on the western side of Nathan Phillips Square, a brand new Indigenous Spirit Garden will be built as part of the Indian Residential School Survivors (IRSS) Restoration of Identity Project. The new space will honour both the survivors of Canada’s residential schools and the children who were lost.

The garden’s design will centre around a two-metre tall sculpture of a turtle on a platform that will bear the names of the 17 residential schools that once operated in Ontario.

Mirvish Village Park

Where Honest Ed’s once stood, there’s not only going to be a massive six-building development but a new park too. The Mirvish Village Park is set to occupy more than 13,000 square feet of space on the Bloor Street West property and will face Markham Street.

As of now, the park is set to have extensive bird-friendly gardens, shade trees, sitting and picnic opportunities, and a children’s water feature, according to the City’s website.

Green Line’s Macpherson Avenue Park

A new 5 km linear park system is coming to an active hydro-electric corridor in Toronto’s Lower Davenport neighbourhood. Spanning from Lansdowne and Davenport to Spadina and Dupont, the Green Line includes new parks and improvements to existing parks. The upcoming Macpherson Avenue Park will serve as an entrance to the Green Line and will have sprawling paths, grassy areas, a meadow, and even an amphitheatre.

Lillian McGregor Park

Honouring the late Indigenous leader Dr. Lillian McGregor, this new park is set to open in July 2021. It’s a 1.6-acre L-shaped park, located on Wellesley Street West between Bay and Yonge, and it contains many nods to Indigenous culture.

There’s a mosaic Indigenous medicine wheel tiled in the middle of the park’s central gathering space, a feather canopy to provide shade, sculptures of cranes — Dr. McGregor’s family clan sign — and traditional Indigenous vegetation planted throughout the park.

St. Andrew’s Park Redesign

St. Andrew’s Park closed in March to undergo an extensive redesign, including an expansion into the parking lot that currently sits on the west side of the property at Adelaide Street West and Maude Street.

Once the revamp is done, park-goers can expect to find an even bigger park with updated seating and gathering areas, an improved dog run, enhanced greenery, and new playground equipment.

Ossington Parkettes

Located at the corners of Argyle Avenue and Foxley Avenue, two new parkettes on Ossington will feature trees, grass, benches, and complementary colourful arches bearing parts of the “Meet me on Ossington” slogan.

Yonge and Eglinton Park

As part of a five-tower development, Oxford Properties is building a new 1,835 square-metre public park along Duplex Avenue, plus a new parkette at the south end of the development site. The project is still awaiting City approval.