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Spadina Quay Wetland
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 To the east of the Music Garden, and adjacent to the Spadina Marina, the Spadina Quay Wetland was completed in 1996.
The Toronto Bay at one time supported a broad variety of fish and wildlife habitat. Over time, these habitats have changed due to the many pressures of the growing city, and the development of a major port. Today the north shore of the Inner Harbour is characterized by vertical seawalls and a deeply dredged near shore zone.
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The Spadina Marina area, just south of the park site, provides a unique habitat opportunity within this environment. With it's shallow and gradual sloping near shore profile, this area offers a degree of protection from the harsh wave environment of the Inner Harbour. This protected environment is now fostering the development of extensive aquatic plant communities and an emerging fish population. There have been numerous and verified accounts of mature northern pike frequenting this location in the spring.
The development of the Spadina Quay Wetland has transformed a former surface parking lot to the north of the Spadina Marina into a diverse and ecologically stable wetland in a highly urbanized section of Toronto's waterfront. The objectives for the project included the creation of an open water marsh wetland that provides a variety of terrestrial and aquatic plant communities, and the establishment of physical and vegetative conditions conducive to high quality northern pike spawning habitat.
A series of features provide a home for spawning fish, amphibians and marsh birds as well as a recreation area for local residents and visitors. The design involved the excavating of soil to differing levels to provide seasonally flooded sections as well as deep pools and shallow areas that are wet year-round. The site is planted with grasses, rushes and other water-tolerant species. Breaks in the existing dockwall establish physical and vegetative connections conducive to pike spawning.
The project was undertaken as a collaboration between the City of Toronto, the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, and Toronto Bay Initiatives. The park is approximately 0.28 Ha (0.7 acres) in size.
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