Name Our Park – Vote for your Favourites Before July 22
Construction will soon begin on our community’s new park at Broadview and Gerrard, as part of the redevelopment of Bridgepoint Health and the refurbishment of the Heritage Don Jail.
The City does not have a process for community consultations for new park namings, so I modeled this consultation on the process used by Waterfront Toronto for the newly opened Corktown Common. I held an open call for nominations for a great name for this new park, and over 80 suggestions were submitted. Thanks to everyone who submitted. You can read all the submissions here.
A panel representing parks, culture, and the local Riverdale community was chosen to review the nominations and make a short list. Each panelist made two choices for names you to vote on.
The panelists are:
- Richard Ubbens, Parks Director at the City of Toronto
- Dave Harvey, Executive Director of Toronto Park People and Riverdale resident
- Kaitlin Wainright & Stacey Rodas, Heritage Toronto
- Michael Hollett, Editor & Publisher at NOW Magazine and Riverdale resident
- Claire Hopkinson, Director & CEO at Toronto Arts Council
Their short list is:
- Freedom Park
- Gatehouse Park
- Governor’s Square
- Jack Layton Park
- Riverview Park
- Scadding Homestead
- Hubbard Park
The first round of voting is open until July 22 – go online to read about the significance of each nominee and make your choice!
The two choices with the most votes will move on to a final vote for the winning name which will go before Council in August.
This new park will be a wonderful green space that will beautify Broadview & Gerrard, an important gateway into Ward 30 and I am looking forward to finding out which name you’ll choose!
Sincerely,
Councillor Paula Fletcher
Ward 30 – Toronto Danforth
