The City is looking to make improvements to St. James Town West Park at 589 Sherbourne St., as a result of redevelopments in the neighbourhood.
The timeline is subject to change.
St. James Town West Park is a 1-acre public park located between Sherbourne Street, Bleecker Street and Howard Street in the heart of the St. James Town neighbourhood. Most of the land is currently leased to the City by Medallion Developments Inc. who owns the parking garage that lies beneath it.
Medallion will be redeveloping properties at 591-601 Sherbourne St. and repairing the parking garage roof below the park. Due to this work, the majority of the park will be removed, creating an opportunity for a fresh design of the park that meets the needs of the local community. The improvements are being funded by the development and are coordinated by the City of Toronto. The design of the park must consider the parking structure below and the future development beside it.
Download a project backgrounder.
In summer 2021, the City collected feedback on the Preferred Concept 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 concept 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.
Two 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.
City staff hosted two interactive virtual workshops. Community members reviewed the preferred concept designs and shared their perspectives, ideas and feedback on the designs in breakout rooms.
Review the meeting presentation.
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 Phase 3: Preferred Concept 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 Concept. 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.
A virtual public meeting was hosted by City staff to invite community members to learn more about the project, see the concept 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.
An online survey was conducted to gather community feedback on the concept 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.
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 first community sharing meeting was held on April 22, 2021.
Key feedback highlights from this meeting included:
The City led its second Youth Resource Group meeting on May 3, and conducted virtual classroom sessions with students at Jarvis Collegiate Institute and Rose Avenue Public School. Key feedback highlights from conversations with youth 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.
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.
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 first community sharing meeting was held on February 18, 2021.
Key feedback highlights from this meeting included:
The Youth Resource Group (YRG) 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 took place on March 23, 2021, and focused on gathering feedback, ideas and perspectives on the future vision for the park. Key feedback highlights from this meeting included:
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