March 2024
Construction Update
Construction for the park began in late January, and construction for the school grounds is commencing shortly. The park and school grounds will be closed to the public during construction.
January 2024
Construction Update
Construction for the park improvements is underway and will continue until late summer 2024, weather permitting. The park will be closed during construction.
Playgrounds are located nearby at McCormick Park, Trinity Bellwoods Park and Fred Hamilton Playground. An off-leash area is located nearby at Trinity Bellwoods Park. A splash pad is located nearby at Fred Hamilton Playground.
Construction will start on the park grounds only (the area within the orange boundary). Pre-construction coordination for the adjacent school ground improvements is underway.
October 2023
Design Finalized
The design for the park improvements is finalized based on community feedback, consideration of the site conditions and constraints, and the operational requirements for the park. Visit the Design section for more information.
May 2023
The project is in the process of hiring a construction team. Construction will start in the fall when the wading pool season is over. Details will be posted on this page when available and after the contractor is hired.
April 2022
Online Survey: Playground and Splash Pad Options
From April 13 to April 27, 2022, feedback on two playground design options and splash pad equipment was collected in an online survey. The design team will use this feedback to refine a final design, which will be shared on this page when available.
All playground and splash pad design options are accessible, have the same amount of play features, and cost the same amount.
Key Playground Feedback
- 54 per cent of respondents preferred Playground Design B and 40 per cent preferred Playground Design A
- 51 per cent of respondents preferred earthy colours like green, brown and grey for the playground equipment
Key Water Play Feedback
- 50 per cent of respondents preferred Splash Pad Design B and 48 per cent preferred Splash Pad Design A
- 41 per cent of respondents preferred cool colours like blue, green and light purple for the splash pad equipment
Playground Design A
Design A includes:
- A swing set with two swings for ages two to five, two swings for ages five to 12 and one inclusive seat
- Junior play structure with curved slide, double slide, multiple rigid and flexible climbing options, play panels, swinging seat, transfer station and roof
- Senior play structure with double slide, wave slide, multiple climbing options, overhead climber, play panel, hammock, transfer station and roof
- Freestanding climber (for ages five to 12 years)
- Multi-user spinning toy
- Two-seater spring toy
- Three freestanding play panels
Playground Design B
Design B includes:
- Swing set with two swings for ages two to five, two swings for ages five to 12, and one inclusive seat
- One basket swing
- Junior play structure with double slide, multiple climbing options, play panels, transfer station and roof
- Senior play structure with spiral slide, multiple rigid climbing options, play panels, transfer station and roof
- Freestanding climbing structure with flexible rope climbers and rigid overhead climbers (for ages five to 12 years
- Freestanding flexible climber (for ages five to 12 years)
- Seat spinning toy
- Spring toy
- Seesaw
- Three freestanding play panels
- Truck play structure
Splash Pad Design A
Design A includes:
- Three upright spray features (one tall spilling, one tall dumping and one short spray)
- Four ground spray features
Splash Pad Design B
Design B includes:
- Three upright spray features (one tall and two loops)
- Seven ground spray features
January 2022
Osler Playground Park Improvements Focus Group Meeting
In September 2021, the project team presented three design options to the community for input through a survey, a public meeting and a pop-up engagement event. There was, however, no clear preference identified by the community for any of the three options. To ensure that the final design serves the needs of the community, the City invited a group of local residents to participate in a one-time focus group* with the project team. During the focus group, participants discussed their needs and priorities for park amenities and provided additional feedback on the proposed designs to assist the project team with advancing a design solution that will benefit all park users.
Based on the feedback from this meeting and the previous consultation events that were held in 2021, the project team is developing a preferred design, which will be shared with the community in the spring of 2022. Additional feedback on play equipment options will be gathered at that time.
*Members of the focus group were identified through a modified civic lottery, a process in which applications are chosen at random based on the applicant’s existing uses of the park. The reason for this approach was to ensure that there was a representative cross-section of park users represented in the focus group. Civic lotteries are often used by municipal governments to bring communities together to find common ground on a specific issue.
Download the:
Engagement Report
As part of phase two of engagement, the project team ran a survey, held a public meeting and conducted a pop-up engagement at Osler Playground to present designs and gather feedback.
Download the Phase Two Engagement Summary Report.
September 2021
Online Survey
From September 13 to September 26, 2021, an online survey presented design options and collected feedback from the community. In total, the survey received 546 responses.
Download the survey summary.
Pop-up Consultation in the Park.
A pop-up was held in the park on September 18.
Virtual Public Meeting
A Virtual Public Meeting was held on September 13, 2021 to present three design options for the park improvements and gather feedback from the public.
Download the meeting presentation.
Common Features in the Three Design Options
- Designed to meet Toronto’s Accessibility Design Guidelines
- Three-metre wide main asphalt pathway connecting Argyle Street to Humbert Street with removable bollards to prevent unwanted vehicular access
- One-metre-wide secondary asphalt pathway connections
- Playground area with engineered cedar fibre safety surfacing, concrete playground borders, concrete ramp, and play equipment
- Water play area
- Dogs off-leash area (OLA) with 1.5-metre high chain link fencing, double gate entrances, maintenance gates, concrete walkway, and seating
- Maintaining an open green space area
- Removal of chainlink fence that bisects the park, except for the property line around school grounds, where a 1.8 metre high galvanized chain link fence will be installed between the School and Park properties, for safety.
- Concrete pads for trash and recycling receptacles at park entrances
- Replacing existing drinking fountain with bottle filling station/drinking fountain/pet bowl combination located centrally in the park
- New seating and seating areas
- Bike/stroller parking area
- New tree planting
- New lighting and electrical service for special events
Design Option 1
This design has a more curvilinear form and includes a combined wading pool/splash pad water play area. Other key features include:
- Park entrances located at the northwest corner, northeast corner and south end of the park
- Asphalt pathway loop
- New playground area (approximately 470 m2) is slightly larger than the existing playground with a concrete seatwall and new play equipment, including a swing set with six seats, senior play structure, junior play structure, and other freestanding play equipment
- Wading pool upgrades, including:
- Replacement of centre turret with new area drains
- New overflow drain
- New wading pool fill wall
- Service chamber repairs and new lids
- New wading pool storage shed
- New small splash pad (approximately 75 m2) with splash pad drains, concrete paving and one upright and a couple of ground spray features
- New formal dogs off-leash area (OLA) (approximately 700m2) located south of the existing Bell easement
- Decorative metal fence along the park frontage on Argyle Street
- New seating including City standard benches, concrete paved seating area with patio-style tables with umbrellas, and concrete seatwalls
- Design includes nine new tree plantings and requires seven tree removals (two due to their condition)
Design Option 2
This design has a more irregular form and replaces the existing wading pool with a splash pad. Other key features include:
- Park entrances located at the northwest corner, north and south ends of the park
- Asphalt pathway loops
- New playground area (approximately 400 m2) is slightly smaller than the existing playground with an armourstone seatwall and new play equipment, including a swing set with four seats, senior play structure, junior play structure, and other freestanding play equipment
- New sandbox (approximately 20m2) with armourstone seatwalls
- New splash pad (approximately 200 m2) with splash pad drains, concrete paving and upright and ground sprays with an opportunity for themed spray features
- New formal dogs off-leash area (OLA) (approximately 950 m2) located south of the existing Bell easement
- Removal of fencing between the Park and Argyle Street
- New seating including City standard benches, concrete paved seating area with games tables and armourstone seatwalls
- Design includes 17 new tree plantings and requires eight tree removals (two due to their condition)
Design Option 3
This design has a more linear form and includes upgrades only for the water play area. Other key features include:
- Park entrances located at the northwest corner, northeast corner and south end of the park
- New playground area (approximately 500 m2) is larger than the existing playground with a concrete seatwall and new play equipment, including a swing set with four seats and a group swing, senior play structure, junior play structure, and other freestanding play equipment
- New sandbox (approximately 40 m2) with concrete seatwalls
- Wading pool upgrades, including:
- Replacement of centre turret with new area drains
- New overflow drain
- New wading pool fill wall
- Service chamber repairs and new lids
- New wading pool storage shed
- New formal dogs off-leash area (OLA) (approximately 1200 m2) crossing through the existing Bell easement
- Decorative metal fence along the park frontage on Argyle Street
- New seating including City standard benches, concrete paved seating area with patio-style tables with umbrellas and concrete seatwalls
- Design includes 10 new tree plantings and requires six tree removals (two due to their condition)
Summer 2021
Design options are being developed and will be presented to the community for feedback at community engagement events in September.
Spring 2021
The design consultant has been hired and is conducting background investigations and site analysis to inform the development of design options.
February 2020
Online Survey
From January 22 to February 10, 2022, an online survey collected feedback about the community’s priorities for the park and the Community Vision Maps that were created at the December 11, 2019 workshop.
Key Survey Takeaways
- The most-favoured Community Vision Map among survey participants was Option 5, followed by Option 4. The least favoured was Option 6.
- Many participants felt that the redesigns should reflect a more balanced space distribution that caters to a variety of park users and age groups i.e. children, youths, families, dog owners, and users who visit without dogs or children.
- Many participants felt that a small dog area would be appropriate given the proximity to parks with larger dogs off-leash areas like Trinity Bellwoods Park. They also noted that it would be important to fence off the dogs off-leash area and separate it from the school and playground, to allow children and others to safely enjoy the park.
- Many participants identified the running track as an important element to the park, not because it is a place where people run, but because it is a place where parents push strollers and kids learn to ride their bikes.
- A key theme among survey responses was the need for the new design to prioritize, protect, and improve on the park’s existing trees and green spaces (e.g. adding trees to provide more shade).
- A majority of survey participants preferred waterplay as a combination splash pad and wading pool.
Download the Visioning Survey Feedback Summary Report.
December 2019
Community Visioning Workshop
On December 11, 2019, a Community Visioning Workshop took place to discuss the community’s vision for the park improvements and to develop initial ideas for park uses, activities and layout, including the adjacent school grounds.
Participants worked together to determine appropriate sizes and locations for the primary features of the improvement project and other amenities they wanted to see in the future design of the park and adjacent school grounds. Six community vision maps were created.
