[Torontovibe]

There are other ways to beautify this park besides grass and trees! You could put in decorative planters with thick vegetation and flowers to bring some colour to this dull space. Using sculpted bushes could also add some definition and beauty to this park. The cheap cement paving has to go and be replaced with something of the quality of Berczy Park. The pink plastic coated areas of this park have become dirty and now look pretty bad. The grey pebbles also do this park no good. It's no surprise that this park is always empty when I walk by it. I can't think of one single feature in this park that would draw people into it, except to use it as a place for your dog to poop. Even the seating arrangements in this park are badly situated.

 

[interchange42]

From Mike Layton's newsletter today:

Public Consultation on Fort York Park Improvements
The City has identified some funding in the Capital Budget for improvements to the parks in the Fort York Neighbourhood. Of particular focus for improvements will be The Gore and June Callwood Park.

You are invited to join me for a consultation to begin discussions about what type of improvements residents would like to see.

When: Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Fort York Visitor Centre, 250 Fort York Boulevard (map)

At this meeting, staff from my office will provide an overview of the process the City will undertake to improve these parks, including timelines, and begin a discussion about what types of improvements residents want to see.

Please sign-up here to ensure you are being kept informed of progress on this file.

If you have any follow-up questions, please do not hesitate to be in touch by contacting Marco in my office at marco.bianchi@toronto.ca, or calling 416-392-4009.​

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[CapitalSeven]

I went back and looked at the first pages of this thread, 9 years ago. Such enthusiasm. I guess we were all seduced by the idea, and the renderings were seductive, but the plan translated into reality pretty poorly.

 

[Northern Light]

GH3 have joined Janet Rosenberg on my list of landscape firms from whom designs ought not to be accepted at all.

So catastrophic is the fail here, that I just don't think it can be lived down. Idea dubious, execution atrocious.

Rosenberg's failure list is even longer in terms of park's the vast majority find unusable and unattractive, though they tend to come closer to executing their poorly conceived designs.

I'd add the designers of Lisgar Park to my bad list......but I'm slightly betwixt here as the the community process involved in design had an unusually high influence in a park that is among Toronto's least functional and appealing.

 

[modernizt]

I went back and looked at the first pages of this thread, 9 years ago. Such enthusiasm. I guess we were all seduced by the idea, and the renderings were seductive, but the plan translated into reality pretty poorly.

It's very easy to be seduced by nice imagery.

What's worse is that a lot of designers don't use renderings to depict reality but to convince themselves that the design will look great. They get more interested in the "idea" of the design than the design itself. I see it all the time and it's incredibly frustrating.

gh3 is a great firm of very talented people, and even they are not above that. Maybe something happened in the execution in terms of budget etc. that was a particular challenge. There is always a backstory. But the park feels more like a diagram than a space for people, and that is a design problem from the very start. Somebody got really hooked on a diagram and felt that therefore it would work as a space for people.

 

[ADRM]

Interesting tidbits from Layton's latest newsletter:

Update: Fort York Parks Improvement Survey & Programming Preferences
In November and December of 2017, my office circulated a survey requesting feedback from residents about how they want to see their parks in the Fort York Neighbourhood change to suit their wants and needs. The outcome of that survey showed that 60% (of responses) preferred to focus on improvements to June Callwood Park, before The Gore.

Therefore it was no surprise to see the below priorities emerge from the rankings:

1) Addition of play structure in JCP 66%
2) Conversion of The Gore to Green Space/Recreation Area 62%
3) Replacement of pebbles/gravel in JCP 58%
4) Addition of dog-area in east portion of The Gore 53%

The remainder of the options/ideas either did not receive a majority of support from responses, or were ranked quite low by your neighbours and peers compared to the above 4 options for improvements.

At this point, there are a number of programming preferences that I am looking for your feedback on. Please fill out the survey to provide your feedback.

If you have any follow-up questions, please do not hesitate to be in touch by contacting Marco in my office at marco.bianchi@toronto.ca, or by calling 416 392 4009.

 

[adHominem]

Updates from Layton's blog, here:

Work on improving the Fort York Neighbourhood parks is steadily progressing. I have had the City draw up ideas to improve June Callwood Park focusing on increased play and social features, filling a void that has existed since its opening, while still respecting the initial design of the space.

You can learn more about the City’s concept for June Callwood Park here. You can click on the small map at the bottom of the page to enlarge it.

These improvements will see the addition of 4 unique play zones, and 2 new social areas that will provide residents with an opportunity to play and socialize in areas that are different from other play opportunities in the area.

We expect to have the budget to support these additions and expect to hire a consultant over the winter, with construction to take place in fall of 2019. Once a consultant is hired, detailed designs will be created and shared with the public, but this is the best time to provide your feedback about the types of additions being proposed and other ideas that could potentially be worked into the detailed design.

 

[Torontovibe]

This has to be one of the worst designed parks I have ever seen. As soon as you lay eyes on it, you know something is wrong!

 

[Northern Light]

This has to be one of the worst designed parks I have ever seen. As soon as you lay eyes on it, you know something is wrong!

Aside from starting over from scratch............what this park needs most is level pavers, it's one gigantic tripping hazard.

After that the issue of dogs (providing a proper space somewhere else so JCP isn't overwhelmed.

Then addressing everything else that's insipid about this space, don't get me started on the trees........LOL

Really, what didn't they get wrong here?

It's a shame, the initial concept had some promise, but every detail failed in execution.

 

[Irishmonk]

For a laugh I went back to page 1 of this thread and found this: "My vote is for the gh3 proposal: they actually mapped a voice sample of june callwood's voice onto the site. a pretty neat idea."

Well, the result is actually far worse than the parking lot it replaced. Perhaps a small section of the "park" could be preserved as a cautionary tale for any firm that latches on to a "pretty neat idea" for a public space--as well as the juries that choose the winning design.

 

[interchange42]

The high-concept was cool, but the implementation was cold.

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[Patch]

Just a reminder of the sad state of this park...
To be fair these pictures were taken last friday (Sept 21) when it was quite windy. So perhaps it looks a tiny bit better on a regular day.

Thankfully some of the stumps have been spray painted but there are still a ridiculous amount of tripping hazards in this park...

The pink (and whole park in general) is screaming for a power wash...

Again, it was a windy day, so perhaps the water feature isn't always flooding 1/4 of the park.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that everything single "garden" in this park has a "No dogs/people" sign.

Again... maybe a product of the wind but should be better secured

In conclusion... those improvements can't come soon enough .

 

[PinkLucy]

It’s like they have just written it off. It looks horrendous.

 

[ProjectEnd]

That's pretty pitiful.

But I'm told by Dear Leader that not only can we imagine and build the city of our dreams, but maintain it as well, all while keeping taxes artificially low. Pffew, what a relief!

 

[Torontovibe]

This park is an epic fail!