Plans unveiled for $8M waterfront park project

Plans unveiled for $8M waterfront park project. The two-phased revitalization plan for Marie Curtis Park includes a children's waterplay area, fenced-in off-leash dog park, common greens, a lakefront boardwalk, pedestiran and bike trails, a BMW track, new parking lots and a turning circle, and several seating areas, among many other features. The first phase is expected to be complete in 2011, followed by the second in 2012. Courtesy image/SLR Consulting

At a public consultation meeting at the Assembly Hall Tuesday night, recently re-elected Etobicoke-Lakeshore Councillor Mark Grimes joined with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) staff, ecologists and planning consultants to unveil a two-year, two-phased concept master plan for the park, located at the mouth of Etobicoke Creek. While the plan was originally scheduled to proceed as part of the now-stalled Arsenal Lands plan in Mississauga, the City of Toronto and TRCA have opted to proceed with plans to redesign the Toronto portion of the park.

"This is an exciting project that began back in 2007 with three public consultation meetings on how we could work with the City of Mississauga to make a great waterfront park," Grimes said, noting that a follow-up, outdoor meeting this past June garnered many improvement suggestions.

"At that meeting we laid out a concept to you because we wanted to hear from you - what you liked, what you didn't like. We've taken those suggestions and worked with the TRCA and revamped the plan accordingly and now we're bringing it back to show you tonight."

Under the new plan, the first phase of the plan in 2011 calls for the construction of a children's waterplay and family gathering areas, as well as a walkway from 42nd Street and running along Etobicoke Creek, in the northeastern portion of the park. Further south, a beach boardwalk will be constructed along Lake Ontario, as well as several seating areas.

Central to the enjoyment of these new areas, however, will be the implementation of a "goose management program," said Leslie Coates of Toronto Parks, Forestry&Recreation.

"The number one comment we heard from you was 'deal with the geese,'" she said. "A lot of people said unless you deal with the geese, there's really no point in doing anything else."

Which is precisely where Dale Leadbeater, a senior ecologist with SLR Consulting, stepped in.

Leadbeater outlined several options open to planners to try to discourage further nesting in Marie Curtis Park by a species very "faithful" to their nesting and feeding locations - a difficult task given the shelter provided by Etobicoke Creek and the extensive, open grasslands at the park in which geese can "loaf" and feed.

"If they are to be discouraged, it is important to make the habitat less comfortable to them, or even hostile by actively interfering with their nests," she said.

Of the options available, Leadbeater said the Marie Curtis Park goose control strategy may include: rehabilitation of erosion sites on Etobicoke Creek; strategic plantings (shrubs and native grasses) which will increase cover, discourage foraging, and increase opportunities for predators; trial use of a manufactured fish/cedar compost that in other areas has discouraged geese and beaver; and, as a last resort, intensive egg oiling for three to five years (a practice which is subject to permitting from Canadian Wildlife Service).

On the western side of Etobicoke Creek - a well-known gay cruising site - phase one plans call for rough grading of Big Sky Hill, beach volleyball courts, the removal of the existent driveway and parking lot, some woodlot and forest restoration in the south, as well as the construction of a perimeter fence around a proposed off-leash dog park and a parking lot near the northern, Lakeshore Drive entrance to the park. The second phase in 2012 will include a new parking lot on the southern end of the park, along with a vehicle turning circle. The traffic flow created by such improvements, suggested Grimes, would help drive out some of the cruising activities.

"I think it's a great park, but I do think it needs some work. I hear about it all the time - the "social problem" happening on the west side of the park that I want to address," he said.

"We want you to go to the west side of the park, and with that roundabout, and with the beach volleyball, and the walking paths through woodlots - the more traffic and activities we have going on, the more we'll eliminate undesirable activities over there. That was our number one issue going into this."

Issues of parking, traffic, lighting, accessible washrooms, funding, and preservation of natural heritage were also discussed at the two-hour open house and meeting. Anyone wishing to share their comments can do so via email to lcoates@toronto.ca or by fax to 416-392-3355 (attn: L. Coates).