‘It’s a very surreal landscape and we don’t want to hide it’: What’s planned for the new park on Toronto’s waterfront

Thestar.com
Jan. 29, 2021

A white sand beach, an elevated viewing platform and nature trails that hide the city’s noise are all part of the proposed plans for a new waterfront park in Toronto.

The Leslie Slip Lookout Park, which will span 1.9 acres on the city’s eastern waterfront, near Tommy Thompson Park, aims to refresh the underused Port Lands, turning the area into an immersive multi-use retreat from the big city.

The $8.5-million park, announced by the city this week, is expected to be complete by summer 2023. Public consultations, along with site preparation and construction, begin next month.

Who’s behind the new park?

After a design competition, the City of Toronto and CreateTO contracted Claude Cormier + Associés to design and construct the park. The Montreal-based architecture firm is no stranger to Toronto -- its portfolio is filled with projects in the city known for their playful details, including Sugar Beach (home to hurricane-proof pink umbrellas) and Berczy Park (known for its dog-sculpture fountain).

This time, the designers are taking a different approach: focus on a simplicity that complements the already eccentric Port Lands area.

“It’s a very surreal landscape and we don’t want to hide it; we want to work with it,” said Claude Cormier, the firm’s founding partner. “You have the industrial surrounded on both sides, huge boats in the canal in front of you, the downtown in the back, the heavy traffic of trucks on Leslie Street and also having bicycle people coming and lots of joggers.”

On Jan. 27, the City of Toronto and CreateTO announced that Montreal-based architecture firm Claude Cormier + Associés will be designing and constructing Leslie Slip Lookout Park at Toronto's Waterfront area.

A new perspective

The word “lookout” is in the park’s name for a reason -- the only built structure on it will be a concrete 360-degree viewing platform, designed to be cylindrical, like silos. Visitors will be able to access its second floor through a ramp or stairs to get a better look at the skyline. It also gives a full-length view of the Ship Channel, which leads to the Toronto Harbour.

Physically distanced, by design

Leslie Slip Lookout Park aims to transport visitors to a green space by the water. This separation from the hustle and bustle of the city was especially pertinent while the architects designed the park during COVID-19.

Cormier said that since there currently are no subway, streetcar or bus stops right at the park, visitors will have to walk or bike along the surrounding trails to get there. Getting there will be part of the experience.

Along with robust greenery, including different poplar species that naturally grow in Toronto, the park’s grounds will be sloped in a way that tries to make surrounding traffic disappear.

Plans for the new park include a white sand beach.

An eye on the past

Toronto’s Indigenous affairs office is also playing a key role, consulting on how the park could include educational and celebratory installations about the city’s Indigenous communities.

“I think it’s going to make (the experience) much richer,” he said.

A place to play

The city plans to use the park for events. The park’s pavilion could host public art one day, food trucks the next and a concert on another day.

Cormier said that they’re thinking of forming hills throughout the park that could transform it into a small amphitheatre.

A new sunbathing spot

Torontonians will have another place to enjoy a sunny summer’s day by the lake -- the park comes with a sand pit right beside the channel, although swimming will most likely be prohibited. He’s hoping to get the same white sand from Ohio that they used at Sugar Beach.