The City is improving Redpath Avenue Parkette, located near Erskine Avenue and Redpath Avenue, in the Mount Pleasant West neighbourhood. The parkette design will be developed with the help of community feedback and will focus on fun and creative play opportunities for children, youth, families and older adults of all abilities. The improvements are proposed to include upgrades to the pathways, playground, seating and gathering areas, drainage and other park features.

A fenced off-leash area (OLA) for dogs to safely exercise outdoors and socialize will be included in the design for the improvements happening at Eglinton Park, located within 500 metres of Redpath Parkette. A map showing the future OLA location is at the end of this page.

  • Spring 2022: Hire a design team
  • Fall 2022 to Summer 2023: Community engagement
    • January 2023: Phase 1, Building a Vision
    • May 2023: Phase 2, Exploring Design Options
    • October 2023: Phase 3, Setting the Direction (current phase)
  • Fall 2023 to Winter 2024: Detailed design
  • Winter to Spring 2024: Hire a construction team
  • Early Fall 2024: Construction starts
  • Early Spring 2025: Construction complete, park opens

The timeline is subject to change. Text in bold indicates the current project phase.

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Draft design options were developed based on the feedback collected during Community Engagement Phase 1. In Community Engagement Phase 2, feedback is being collected on three draft design options.

Based on feedback collected, Design Option 3 was preferred with the inclusion of certain elements from Design Options 1 and 2 such as the flexible open lawn area, the picnic area, and the barn-themed wooden playground structure designed to accommodate different play levels. Community members also emphasized that additional seating is needed around the playground and throughout the park.

While we aim to provide fully accessible content, there is no text alternative available for some of the content on this site. If you require alternate formats or need assistance understanding our maps, drawings, or any other content, please contact Kaila Johnson at 647-458-1552.

Parkette Design Option 1: Central Park Green

Parkette features are arranged around a central open lawn area. A range of seating types such as benches, seatwalls, and platforms are spread throughout the parkette, offering many different viewpoints and spaces for people to choose from. This allows small groups to sit in the park at once, and for individual park users to choose a place to sit that best suits their needs and mood.

Aerial view of the design option for the parkette, with the main park entrance from Erskine Avenue where multiple defined pathways lead to activity areas. From the bottom left corner to top right corner, a south entrance adjacent to a meadow and landforms, benches, shrubs and grasses, an open lawn at the centre with platform seating and fitness equipment to the west, and a playground at the top right corner.

Key Features

  1. Playground
  2. Open lawn
  3. Landforms
  4. Fitness equipment
  5. Platform seating
  6. Benches
  7. Meadow
  8. Shrubs and grasses
  9. Entrance node
Illustrative image showing the parkette entrance from the north, looking southeast through the parkette. A silhouette of a several people sitting on a platform are on the right observing a raised topography, meadow, and tree to the left. Further into the distance, people are exercising and socializing on an open lawn.
View of parkette entrance from the north, looking southeast through the parkette.

Parkette Design Option 2: Central Play

Parkette features are arranged around a central playground and an introduced picnic area. A range of seating types such as benches, seatwalls, and platform seating are oriented towards the central play and gathering area, offering a main focal point and clustering of activity at the centre of the parkette.

Aerial view of the design option for the parkette, with the main park entrance from Erskine Avenue where multiple defined pathways lead to activity areas. From the bottom left corner to top right corner, there is a meadow and landforms, shrubs and grasses, platform seating at the centre with a picnic area and playground at the centre, and fitness equipment to the west.
Key Features

  1. Playground
  2. Open lawn
  3. Landforms
  4. Fitness equipment
  5. Platform seating
  6. Benches
  7. Meadow
  8. Shrubs and grasses
  9. Picnic area
Illustrative image showing the parkette entrance from the north, looking southeast through the parkette. A silhouette of a person and their child are walking towards the entrance, with a slightly raised topography, meadow and tree to the left. Further into the distance, people are using a variety of seating types including platforms, seatwalls, benches, and picnic tables.
View of parkette entrance from the north, looking southeast through the parkette.

Parkette Design Option 3: Central Commons

Combines popular elements from the previous design options to include a central commons (as shown in Central Green) and a central picnic area (as shown in Central Park) to provide a mix and balance of spaces to relax, play and gather in small groups.

Aerial view of the design option for the parkette, with the main park entrance from Erskine Avenue where multiple defined pathways lead to activity areas. From the bottom left corner to top right corner, there is a meadow with landforms, benches, shrubs and greases around the west and north perimeter of the park, platform seating and a picnic area near the centre adjacent to the open lawn area, fitness equipment at the west, and playground at the top east section of the parkette.

Key Features

  1. Playground
  2. Open lawn
  3. Landforms
  4. Fitness equipment
  5. Platform seating
  6. Benches
  7. Meadow
  8. Shrubs and grasses
  9. Picnic area
Illustrative image showing the parkette entrance from the north, looking southeast through the parkette. A seat wall in the foreground wraps around a green space with a tree and meadow plantings. Further into the distance, people are sitting on platforms, benches, and picnic tables.
View of parkette entrance from the north, looking southeast through the parkette.

During this phase of the community engagement process, the City worked with community members to define an overall Draft Vision Statement for the parkette, including a series of Design Principles which will guide the development of design options in Phase 2.

Engagement activities in this phase included:

  • Online Survey
  • Classroom Workshops
  • In-Person Community Pop-Up

Outcomes

Vision Statement

Redpath Avenue Parkette is a welcoming space for relaxation and play. It is a place that connects nature and the community, bringing together people of different backgrounds, ages, and interests to pursue fun and creative play opportunities, and to celebrate life with friends, family, and neighbours. It is the heart of a healthy, green, and connected community in midtown Toronto.

Design Principles

  • Welcome all people
    • Support community safety, comfort and accessibility for all ages and abilities as a top priority.
  • Balance space for relaxation and active play
    • Enhance and diversify amenity options, while balancing space for quiet relaxation and fun play opportunities.
  • Champion resilient approaches
    • Protect, add and enhance healthy ecosystems. Add new plantings that provide shade and spatial definition.
  • Improve entrances, edges and flows
    • Restore park edges and entrances, and create a design that flows and connects with surrounding areas, parkette amenities, and natural areas.

January/February 2023

Visioning Survey

From January 17 to February 5, 2023, over 478 people responded to an online survey. The feedback collected in this survey, in combination with the in-person engagements, has helped form the Draft Vision Statement and Design Principles, and will help develop draft designs for the parkette.

Download the survey summary.

Classroom Workshops

n February 2023, over 80 students in grades three, four, and eight at John Fisher Junior Public School and St. Monica Catholic School participated in classroom workshops. Students participated in a group design activity and shared how they wanted the parkette to change in the future. Two members of the project team were available to collect feedback and answer questions.

Download the classroom workshop summary.

In-Person Community Pop-Up Event

In January 2023, a pop-up event took place inside Eglinton Central Community Centre at the Early ON Child and Family Centre from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Three members of the project team were available to collect feedback and answer questions.

Key feedback included:

  • The two most popular playground activities are climbing and spinning
  • Rubber is greatly preferred over wood fibre for the playground surface
  • Earthy colours are greatly preferred for the playground over bright primary colours
  • Seatwalls and picnic tables are the most popular forms of seating

In this phase of the community engagement process, the City and the design consultant are working off the outcomes of Phase 1 to develop three design options (called concept options) for the park improvements. These were presented to the community for feedback, with the input collected used to develop a preferred design for the park.

Engagement Activities in this phase included:

  • Online Survey
  • Classroom Workshops
  • In-Person Community Pop-Ups

Based on feedback collected, Design Option 3 was preferred with the inclusion of certain elements from Design Options 1 and 2 such as the flexible open lawn area, the picnic area, and the barn-themed wooden playground structure designed to accommodate different play levels. Community members also emphasized that additional seating is needed around the playground and throughout the park.

May/June 2023

Online Survey

From May 19 to June 11, 2023, an online survey collected feedback on the design options for the parkette improvements.

Download the survey summary.

Classroom Workshops

In May 2023, over 50 students in grades three and eight at St. Monica Catholic School, located near Redpath Avenue Parkette, participated in an interactive design activity, with the input used to evolve the design options for the playground and the parkette.

Students were first introduced to a member of the project team and were shown slides of the three design options and precedent images from other playgrounds. They were then asked to share feedback on what they liked and didn’t like and what they wanted to see in the parkette redesign.

Preferred Park Design
  • Design Option 3: Central Commons was most preferred by students as it provided more seating options throughout the park (picnic tables, benches, and platforms) while maintaining a flexible lawn area for gathering in small groups, kicking a ball and/or playing frisbee.
  • Grade eight and three students suggested additional bench seating around the playground.
Preferred Play Features
  • The barn-themed senior and junior play structure received loud praise and there was general excitement about the historic connection to agriculture and cattle farming in the old Village of Eglinton. Students were excited to see this theme reflected in the design and materials of the barn house (e.g., rope webs, wooden ladders, rolls of grass) and in the proposed planting scheme (e.g., wildflower meadows).
  • The multi-level play environment appeals because it offers vantage points to the surrounding area. Grade 8 students mentioned that they liked the higher level of the structure because it offers more of a challenge and is rewarding to climb up to.
  • Grade eight and three students suggested incorporating steps that can be climbed for younger kids.
  • Grade eight and three students liked the inclusion of a disc swing.
  • Majority of students were not interested in sand play.

In-Person Community Pop-Ups

In May 2023, over 100 community members participated in two park pop-ups at Redpath Avenue Parkette, located at 130 Erskine Ave. The pop-up allowed community members to engage in dotmocracy exercises and provide feedback in person. Three members of the project team were present to answer any questions or make note of any concerns, commentary, and feedback about the project.

Preferred Park Design
  • Design Option 1, Central Green (five): Participants were more drawn to Option 3 as an alternative as it provides a similar layout but with the addition of picnic tables which were strongly favoured by people of all ages.
  • Design Option 2, Central Play (51): Participants were drawn to this option for its focus on the play area as a central feature. They were satisfied with the other incorporated features but suggested that additional seating was needed around the playground and throughout the park. Other comments included exploring ways to deter off-leash dogs from running towards the play area.
  • Design Option 3, Central Commons (25): Participants liked the play areas, pathway layout, open lawn, trees and plantings, and fitness area but suggested there wasn’t enough seating placed around the playground and throughout the park.
Preferred Play Features

Participants were excited about all of the proposed features but emphasized the need for flat accessible surfacing, safe play options for younger children, and reducing the amount of exposed plastic which heats up during hot summer days. Additional play suggestions included adding a trampoline and overhead climbing features.

During this phase of the community engagement process, the City will share the preferred design option to the community. Once the preferred design is confirmed, the project will move into the detail design phase, where the design team will finalize the preferred design by working through the technical details and developing detailed plans and drawings to be used by the construction contractor.

Community engagement activities in this phase:

  • Online Survey
  • In-Person Community Pop-Ups

The anticipated phase outcome is the refined preferred design.

Redpath Avenue Parkette playground, which shows a teeter-totter and spring toy in the foreground and medium-sized play structure and swing set in the background. The playground is on top of sand and includes a short wood border around the entire playground.

Redpath Parkette is located near Erskine Avenue and Redpath Avenue, in the Mount Pleasant West neighbourhood. The children’s playground is located northwest of the park, and currently includes:

  • A playground on sand, with:
    • Swings
    • A spring toy
    • A seesaw
    • One large traditional play structure (ages 12 and under) with:
      • A small double slide
      • A large twist slide
      • Climbing features
      • Play panels
    • A paved seating area
    • Planters, planting beds, and trees
    • Pathways and lightings

The improvements to the parkette are proposed to include:

  • A new playground
  • Pathway upgrades
  • Seating
  • Plantings
  • Waste receptacles
  • Improved drainage

The parkette and playground improvements will be determined with the help of feedback from the community.

Off-Leash Area Location

While we aim to provide fully accessible content, there is no text alternative available for some of the content on this site. If you require alternate formats or need assistance understanding our maps, drawings, or any other content, please contact Kaila Johnson at 647-458-1552.

An aerial map showing Redpath Avenue Parkette (shown with a red star) and the surrounding area, including Eglinton Park, located approximately 500 metres west.