The City is improving St. James Town West Park as a result of Medallion Developments Inc. redeveloping properties at 591-601 Sherbourne St. and repairing the roof of the parking garage below the park. This work creates an opportunity for a new park design that meets the needs of the community and considers the parking structure and future residential development project next door.
Download a project backgrounder.
The timeline is subject to change.
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The week of March 6, the entire park closed to the public, including the seating and path connecting Bleecker Street and Sherbourne Street at the south area of the park. The park improvements will start when staging for the adjacent residential development project and the underground garage repairs are completed.
Due to staging for the new residential development tower by Medallion Development Inc., most of the park was closed to the public. The south area of the park, near Shoppers Drug Mart, which includes a path and benches, will remain open to allow access between Bleecker Street and Sherbourne Street.
Construction for the park improvements is anticipated to start in spring 2024.
In the summer of 2021 the City collected feedback on the Preferred Design for St. James Town West Park. Feedback was collected through an online survey, virtual community workshops, pop-ups in the park, engagement with Indigenous rights-holders and input from a Youth Resource Group.
The features that received the most support were:
There was also strong support for features that enable play, exercise, and community events at the park, and for the mix of natural elements and lawn space that is proposed.
Download the Phase 3 Consultation Summary Report.
An online survey was conducted to gather community feedback on the design options for the park. Print copies of the survey were available at the St. James Town Community Corner (200 Wellesley Street East), and was available in English, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Nepali, Tagalog and Tamil. The survey received a total of 162 survey responses.
On July 31 and August 4, pop-ups were hosted at St. James Town West Park. Community members were able to chat in-person with the project team, see the designs and provide feedback.
On July 27, City staff hosted two interactive virtual workshops. Community members reviewed the preferred design and shared their perspectives, ideas and feedback on the designs in breakout rooms.
Download the meeting presentation.
On July 21, Indigenous Community Sharing Meetings are led by Bob Goulais, an Indigenous facilitator, and are meant to engage with Indigenous rights-holders and communities to understand and actively incorporate Indigenous perspectives into the design of the park. The final community sharing meeting was held on July 21, 2021.
During this meeting, Indigenous participants suggested further design ideas including but not limited to:
A complete record of this meeting is included in Appendix B of the Phase 3 Consultation Summary report found in the Summer 2021, Phase 3: Preferred Design section.
In spring 2021, the City gathered feedback on two concept design options for St. James Town West Park, to help inform the development of a Preferred Design. Feedback was collected through an online survey, virtual public meeting, engagement with Indigenous rights-holders and input from a Youth Resource Group.
Download the Phase 2 Consultation Summary report.
On May 3, the City led its second Youth Resource Group meeting and conducted virtual classroom sessions with students at Jarvis Collegiate Institute and Rose Avenue Public School. Key feedback highlights from conversations with youth included:
On April 20, a virtual public meeting was hosted by City staff to invite community members to learn more about the project, see the design plan options for the park redesign, and gather feedback through a virtual question-and-answer session. 54 community members attended, as well as the local Councillor.
Download the meeting presentation.
From April 20 to May 9, an online survey was conducted to gather community feedback on the design options for the park. Print copies of the survey were available at the St. James Town Community Corner (200 Wellesley Street East)
The survey received a total of 220 survey responses. Overall, participants were generally supportive of both designs with slightly more participants leaning towards Option 1 – Green Refuge. Many participants also indicated strong agreement with the way design elements were conveyed in Option 2 – Paths.
On April 22, a community sharing meeting was held. Indigenous Community Sharing Meetings are led by Bob Goulais, an Indigenous facilitator, and are meant to engage with Indigenous rights-holders and communities to understand and actively incorporate Indigenous perspectives into the design of the park.
Key feedback highlights from this meeting included:
To help understand how the park is currently used, and what the community vision for the future was, the City conducted early consultations with local residents and stakeholders. Feedback was collected through an online questionnaire, engagement with Indigenous rights-holders and input from a Youth Resource Group.
From March 1 to March 22, 2021, an online questionnaire was conducted to gather community thoughts, ideas and experiences on how the park is currently used, and to identify park features and amenities to be prioritized for the park redesign.
Download the questionnaire result summary.
On March 23, the Youth Resource Group (YRG) held its first meeting. It is an important element of community engagement for this project, and will reflect the significant role that youth play in the St. James Town community. The YRG is comprised of individuals aged 15-24 representing local community organizations, including St. James Town Community Ambassadors, the Wellesley Youth Council, Jarvis Collegiate Institute, and students from the Daniel’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.
The first YRG meeting focused on gathering feedback, ideas and perspectives on the future vision for the park. Key feedback highlights from this meeting included:
On February 18, a community sharing meeting was held. Indigenous Community Sharing Meetings are led by Bob Goulais, an Indigenous facilitator, and are meant to engage with Indigenous rights-holders and communities to understand and actively incorporate Indigenous perspectives into the design of the park.
Key feedback highlights from this meeting included:
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 Laurel Christie at 416-395-0074.
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 Laurel Christie at 416-395-0074.
