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Darkstar416
Guest
Re: Globe: Green Acres? Not Really (Lorinc on Downsview Par
Indeed, so let's all vote NDP! :b
Indeed, so let's all vote NDP! :b
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blixa442
Guest
Re: Globe: Green Acres? Not Really (Lorinc on Downsview Par
Half the city should vote for the Tories and the other half for the NDP. Amazing things would be happening very quickly.
Half the city should vote for the Tories and the other half for the NDP. Amazing things would be happening very quickly.
rdaner
Senior Member
FROM FIELDS TO URBAN TREASURE
What: Downsview Park is at the headwaters of the Don and Humber rivers, one of the highest points in the city. It was a farming area until expropriated in 1947 to become Royal Canadian Air Force base.
Claim to fame: The site includes the former headquarters of De Havilland Aircraft, renowned for the Beaver bush planes made there. The massive No. 1 Supply Depot has concrete walls so thick it's reputedly able to withstand a nuclear blast. It's slated for demolition in 2014.
Plans: The park to-do list includes excavating the pond, installing roads and paths, and redesigning the Keele and Sheppard entrance. Though planting isn't complete, the 12-hectare Canada Forest already includes 25,000 trees.
Uses: More than half of the park will be open space and forest, with trails for hiking and cycling, picnic areas and an area for community gardening. Former aviation buildings will be converted to artist studios. Surrounding area will be five new neighbourhoods earmarked for a mix of uses, including residential, research, business, education and institutional.
With a plan in place and city hall player in charge, giant Downsview green space looking more likely
Jul 02, 2007 04:30 AM
Paul Moloney
City hall bureau
Of all the milestones touted by Downsview Park, July 6, 2006, may turn out to be the most significant.
That was when the Canadian military handed the 231-hectare site near Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. W. over to the Crown corporation set up to develop a unique recreational green space.
The federal Liberal government of the time had announced closure of the base in 1994, but ownership issues stymied redevelopment.
The pace quickened after the transfer a year ago.
In December, Ottawa authorized Parc Downsview Park Inc. to borrow up to $100 million to ratchet up development, starting with three new soccer pitches and excavations for a 4-hectare pond. And just last month, former city councillor David Soknacki was named chair of the board for a five-year term.
Soknacki, a successful businessman who will be paid $9,500 a year for his role on the board, said that's fine with him.
"I did not want to sit on a board, certainly not as chair, unless we had a very clear understanding that there would be an expeditious review of the mission and then a vigorous implementation plan."
While park-building has lagged, the former military buildings are being put to eclectic uses, including a weekend flea market; film production; an advanced-driver training school and a pre-shipment area for Chryslers newly built in Brampton. The former aerodrome houses a variety of sporting activities.
And the sprawling site has hosted huge events, including the 2002 papal visit and SARS rock concert the following year, as well as annual Canada Day celebrations.
To pay for the park, about 53 hectares are to be leased for commercial development and 32 hectares sold for housing, leaving 150 hectares of green space.
The planned extension of the Spadina subway line from Downsview station, on the park's eastern flank, to York University is expected to boost development revenues. A second subway station is planned for the site.
Talks on the park's future will draw on Soknacki's deep connections at city hall, where he served as budget chief.
"The subway station development is going to require considerable co-operation with the city," said Councillor Howard Moscoe.
"They're going to make their money on development in and around the (new) subway station. Some of the discussions I've had with them indicate they believe it's time to start co-operating with the city."
Critics have griped about slow progress at Downsview. What they don't know, said former Liberal cabinet minister David Collenette, is how remarkable it is that the project has made it this far.
Powerful people in Ottawa would have preferred to see the entire site sold off for development, Collenette said. One estimate put the potential gain for federal coffers at $138 million.
"There were people within the bureaucracy, and certainly some of my colleagues, who did not agree with the notion of this big piece of land in Canada's biggest city becoming principally a park," said Collenette.
"There were people in Treasury Board and finance who saw this as a tangible asset that could be sold off."
Collenette, a senior minister, said there was a reluctance in some quarters to aid Toronto.
"You had this attitude percolating about `why is Toronto getting a special park?' Somehow a national park for everywhere else is fine but an urban national park in Toronto, not so much."
Now, with the financing, subway plans and other factors in place, the point seems reached where a park will indeed happen.
"In the long run, Toronto is going to have something to be proud of," Collenette said. "In 100 years from now, I think people will be grateful that all of us that believed in this hung tough."
What: Downsview Park is at the headwaters of the Don and Humber rivers, one of the highest points in the city. It was a farming area until expropriated in 1947 to become Royal Canadian Air Force base.
Claim to fame: The site includes the former headquarters of De Havilland Aircraft, renowned for the Beaver bush planes made there. The massive No. 1 Supply Depot has concrete walls so thick it's reputedly able to withstand a nuclear blast. It's slated for demolition in 2014.
Plans: The park to-do list includes excavating the pond, installing roads and paths, and redesigning the Keele and Sheppard entrance. Though planting isn't complete, the 12-hectare Canada Forest already includes 25,000 trees.
Uses: More than half of the park will be open space and forest, with trails for hiking and cycling, picnic areas and an area for community gardening. Former aviation buildings will be converted to artist studios. Surrounding area will be five new neighbourhoods earmarked for a mix of uses, including residential, research, business, education and institutional.
With a plan in place and city hall player in charge, giant Downsview green space looking more likely
Jul 02, 2007 04:30 AM
Paul Moloney
City hall bureau
Of all the milestones touted by Downsview Park, July 6, 2006, may turn out to be the most significant.
That was when the Canadian military handed the 231-hectare site near Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. W. over to the Crown corporation set up to develop a unique recreational green space.
The federal Liberal government of the time had announced closure of the base in 1994, but ownership issues stymied redevelopment.
The pace quickened after the transfer a year ago.
In December, Ottawa authorized Parc Downsview Park Inc. to borrow up to $100 million to ratchet up development, starting with three new soccer pitches and excavations for a 4-hectare pond. And just last month, former city councillor David Soknacki was named chair of the board for a five-year term.
Soknacki, a successful businessman who will be paid $9,500 a year for his role on the board, said that's fine with him.
"I did not want to sit on a board, certainly not as chair, unless we had a very clear understanding that there would be an expeditious review of the mission and then a vigorous implementation plan."
While park-building has lagged, the former military buildings are being put to eclectic uses, including a weekend flea market; film production; an advanced-driver training school and a pre-shipment area for Chryslers newly built in Brampton. The former aerodrome houses a variety of sporting activities.
And the sprawling site has hosted huge events, including the 2002 papal visit and SARS rock concert the following year, as well as annual Canada Day celebrations.
To pay for the park, about 53 hectares are to be leased for commercial development and 32 hectares sold for housing, leaving 150 hectares of green space.
The planned extension of the Spadina subway line from Downsview station, on the park's eastern flank, to York University is expected to boost development revenues. A second subway station is planned for the site.
Talks on the park's future will draw on Soknacki's deep connections at city hall, where he served as budget chief.
"The subway station development is going to require considerable co-operation with the city," said Councillor Howard Moscoe.
"They're going to make their money on development in and around the (new) subway station. Some of the discussions I've had with them indicate they believe it's time to start co-operating with the city."
Critics have griped about slow progress at Downsview. What they don't know, said former Liberal cabinet minister David Collenette, is how remarkable it is that the project has made it this far.
Powerful people in Ottawa would have preferred to see the entire site sold off for development, Collenette said. One estimate put the potential gain for federal coffers at $138 million.
"There were people within the bureaucracy, and certainly some of my colleagues, who did not agree with the notion of this big piece of land in Canada's biggest city becoming principally a park," said Collenette.
"There were people in Treasury Board and finance who saw this as a tangible asset that could be sold off."
Collenette, a senior minister, said there was a reluctance in some quarters to aid Toronto.
"You had this attitude percolating about `why is Toronto getting a special park?' Somehow a national park for everywhere else is fine but an urban national park in Toronto, not so much."
Now, with the financing, subway plans and other factors in place, the point seems reached where a park will indeed happen.
"In the long run, Toronto is going to have something to be proud of," Collenette said. "In 100 years from now, I think people will be grateful that all of us that believed in this hung tough."
alklay
Senior Member
So that's it!! We have to wait 100 years for the park to take shape. That explains a lot. 
A parking lot? That's really special.
p5connex
Active Member
Did anyone really expect that we would actually get anything significant? This was ballyhooed the minute it was announced and has been slowly but surely whittled down nothing more than another prime spot for development. It is nothing more than downright discouraging- not to mention, the next time such a large scale urban design competition is held in this city, many architects and designers will chose to stay away, for fear that their ideas will end up sitting in a filing cabinet until 2075, where upon they will be disposed.
What a shame.
p5
What a shame.
p5
urbandreamer
recession proof
why don't they just nix the park and build a nice dense urban neighbourhood--6 story townhouse/walkups with modern design. Okay, build a small--long and narrow park in the centre but keep the area residential--basically, copy the annex only make it modern and triple the density.
TrickyRicky
Senior Member
I'm unconcerned about design competitions etc., the primary issue at hand is preservation of green space. Every square meter of land handed over for development is a loss to the city.
Junglab
New Member
The many competitions for thw waterfront showed no sign of this supposed fear. On the contrary, even Lord Foster dipped his toes into our "discouraging" city of perpetual abeyance.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
I doubt it. Very few architects ever have too much work, and are always looking for potential new fees.
unimaginative2
Senior Member
Plenty of architects have too much work. They're the good ones that we actually want to design in our city.
scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
With Parc Downsview Park, though, only the grass is really being designed; the residential blocks will surely end up being "master planned" by Tridel or Pemberton.
AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
unimaginative2
Senior Member
Norman Foster perhaps, who has a staff of dozens of architects who trade entirely on his name and reputation? I could list many more if you like.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Re: Foster: About 600 actually.