Ok, here's the review of Harbour Square Park for
@Tunafish13
Lets start, as per usual, with the aerial pic and a look at what the park aims to be:
Below is the highlighted property block known as Harbour Square Park EAST; as TO Maps doesn't let you highlight 2 discrete parcels the West portion will follow:
The City lists no amenities for the site except......a fieldhouse? (really?)..... and suggests passive use/picnicking is appropriate.
The all-in size of the site is surprising large, though not necessarily all that functional at ~2ha/5 acres.
Narrow entrance paths, queuing space for the Ferry Terminal, Irregular shapes, the intrusion of a private parking lot etc. eat up a great deal of space.
So lets sum up here, the intent of the space, as currently laid out is to provide passive access to the Lake; a Lakeside Path, Art/Sculpture, Seating and Picnic space, while having to share a portion of the grounds
w/the Ferry Terminal.
Now let's begin the tour as see whether the design works well at a high level, at a detailed level, and how maintenance is faring.
We'll begin at the beginning, the Park entrance (also the path to the Ferry Terminal) from Queen's Quay and Bay Street:
Note here that there are 2 entrance paths, this one is on the left/east of the parking garage entrance; the path to the west/right can be seen below (from Streetview):
So...right off the bat, looking at the upper photos, the path and trees were re-done as per West 8's Queen's Quay/Habourfront Public realm guidelines. Good!
But what in the @#$# are those 1970s era ashtrays....ahem, excuse me, planters doing off to one side? They're not attractive, not properly planting, they're not all the same shape and size, and they're
all off on the right hand side of the path which has clearly be organized to convey the idea of an Allee with symmetrical positioning of the trees.
There is no seating which I find obnoxious, there's also no other 'framing' of the Allee which could have been done with limited planting beds. Ah well. Oh, there's also no sign on this side of the parking garage.
Meanwhile, over on the right hand side, we can see the paving treatment was never re-done, and there's one sad sack bench..........yikes.
* note that while the Streetview pic is older, I have verified that it does represent the current state of this path accurately.
Ok.....Back to the path on the left as we walk further into the Park:
In the image above, we are looking to the left to the open space just north of the Ferry Terminal and abutting the rear of the hotel complex. What can one say here? The relationship between the building and the adjacent space is poor.
Were the right landscape treatment in place, and the Ferry terminal re-do as well, I would certainly hope an effort would be made to animate this space with restaurants and patios or at the very least space which properly meets the park in some way, with coordinated finishes.
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Below, 2 images shot looking at the opposite way (right/west) from the same point as above, looking at the park landscape at that point:
The lawn, such as it is, is fine, for the most part, though the barren landscape under the trees is unfortunate. At the very least, this area should be edged, and then covered in mulch, and some protective railings put in place.
That would help manage the erosion one can see, improve tree health, and make the space appear loved. Native ground covers like Virginia Waterleaf would probably do just fine here as well, and add a green element early and late in the season, while largely disappearing under any mulch at the height of summer.
Now we'll look straight ahead, from where the paths have merged, and the Ferry Terminal is now to our more immediate left (really our 11 O'clock)
No sign of our nice upgraded path here, just plain, aging concrete, no seating either, @#$# !!
Note the ridiculous looking flower planters ahead on the left, which have no flowers in them and which also serve to compact the soil and harm the tree roots!
Oh and our wonderful Parks garbage cans prominent in the foreground........
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Ok,, looking left at the Ferry Terminal:
The building merits no great sanction since we're getting rid of it (yay!) ......there's the last of our upgraded path over there........that's something, oh and hey, benches......
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Moving on down the main path we encounter the Toronto culture loud and clear with signage telling you everything you shouldn't be doing in this park!
I kinda/sorta get the top 2.....even if I wish they were more subtle and on a straight pole, LOL......
But that bottom sign.........really? Why not add a sign saying, No Fires Allowed, or No Air Rifles or No Motorcycles or .....well you get the idea............I agree, tents aren't allow, the sign is superfluous and reeks of 'see we did something about it'.....
Also, Park hours? Really........ Pssst, these are not enforced at all and are absurd. Dumb rule, made worse by non-enforcement in that it teaches you that the rules don't mean anything.
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Just past the sign...........hold on, what's this............?
Ok.....so someone got the bright idea to extend the West 8 style light fixtures into the park................I'd be fine w/that...........were they not affixed to dwarf concrete poles....... that's not the design brief at all.
The fixture and pole style clash badly. If you can't afford to do it properly, stop, put some more money in the piggy bank and do it next year! Grumble.
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Now lets get a closer look at the treed space with empty planters we saw a couple of images up:
First we see a tree that isn't in very good health; whether that's just age or poor care I can't say........for sure...
Though I could ask about this strange use of landscape cloth:
Ok....so first, this cloth should not be going right up to the edge of the tree like that, it really serves no useful purpose. What this has been laid down for, obviously, is weed suppression. I don't mind that, but for appearance sake
if nothing else, you're supposed to keep it covered by the mulch.............which is now very thin and obviously hasn't been topped up in a long while.........
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Below we see our giant, ugly planter, with no plants in it, weighing down and compacting the soil it shares w/the roots of the tree above....... along more very thin mulch.
Out of space for this post, the tour continues..............
