Liberty Village Public Realm and Community Services and Facilities Study - Update Report
This item will be considered by
Toronto and East York Community Council on February 16, 2022.
Parks
Parks, Forestry and Recreation have identified a need for new parks as well as improvements to existing parks in the study area.
Liberty Village Park
Park improvements are planned to the Liberty Village Park which will create more play amenities including a playground expansion, splash pad, seating, as well as improvements to pathways and landscaping. Construction is scheduled to start in May 2022 with completion by Fall 2022. This timeline is subject to change and is weather permitting.
Bill Johnston Park – North of 19 Western Battery Road
A vacant parcel of land abutting the south-eastern edge of Bill Johnston Park has been secured by the City as future Parkland. The land is currently under private ownership but following the conveyance to the City, the land will be improved to expand the existing Bill Johnston Park with a shared children's playground. During the day, the play area will be exclusively used by the daycare facility operating within the building at 19 Western Battery Road, and during non-operating daycare hours, the play area will be available for the general public to use.
Allan A. Lamport Stadium Park – 1155 King Street West
Lamport Stadium Park is approximately 37,300 square metres in area (3.73 hectares). The site contains a number of uses including a sports stadium, a Toronto Parking Authority surface parking lot, a temporary Respite Centre, open park space with a small children's playground, seating, table tennis tables, pathways and a listed heritage house. City staff are exploring opportunities in and around the stadium for optimizing and improving the design and functionality of the entire property in order to create a more useable and programmed park space.
Toronto Parking Authority - 34 Hanna Avenue
The Toronto Parking Authority surface parking lot (Carpark #224) at 34 Hanna Avenue, contains 184 parking spaces. The property has frontage on Liberty Street, Hanna Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, and is approximately 4,886 square metres in size.
In 2015, Toronto and East York Community Council requested staff from Parks, Forestry and Recreations, Real Estate, City Planning and the Toronto Parking Authority, and any other necessary City staff in consultation with the ward Councillors, to explore how the property could be better utilized to serve the local community.
Through the current study, City Planning and Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and the Toronto Parking Authority, in consultation with CreateTO are exploring potential opportunities to re-develop this site to serve the local community. The link to the motion can be found at:
Agenda Item History 2015.TE10.124
app.toronto.ca
Public Realm
A unique feature within Liberty Village are the interconnected outdoor pathways within complexes of buildings and walkways between streets that are often referred to as midblock connections. These connections, while often on private property, allow public users and pedestrians additional opportunities to easily get around the community.
With an expected number of infrastructure projects for SmartTrack, Exhibition GO, the planned Liberty New Street, and the recently opened King Liberty pedestrian bridge, there is an increased need to improve, establish and plan for increased mobility and pedestrian connections throughout the area. It is also critical to ensure that the locations, safety and design of the connections are carefully considered.
Some of the opportunities to improve the public realm that have been identified include:
• Exploring opportunities to widen narrow sidewalk conditions throughout the study area;
• Adding sidewalks across the western portion of Liberty Village between Dufferin Street and Atlantic Avenue;
• Removal of boulevard parking throughout the western portion of Liberty Village in front of private properties;
• Adding street trees and improving boulevard landscaped areas;
• Establishing pedestrian and cycling connections along streets such as Jefferson Avenue, Atlantic Avenue and Hanna Avenue in order to link transit projects from north and south;
• Improving the boulevard condition and adding new street trees along Liberty and East Liberty Street;
• Exploring opportunities for additional pedestrian midblock connections in the following locations:
• East-west private lane located north of the Toronto Police Services building at 9 Hanna Avenue, and the north-south lane (King West Laneway) located east of the building;
• North-south connections to the recently constructed King Liberty pedestrian bridge to the future SmartTrack Station and Metro Grocery;
• East-west connection to Strachan Avenue directly from Western Battery Road; and
• North-south connection from King Street West to Rita Cox parkette (north of King Street).
• Pedestrian safety improvements and crossings, particularly along Liberty and East Liberty Streets; and
• A number of open space locations such as remnant small parcels of private land that could be opportunities for future park and open spaces.
