The City is planning a new recreational ice-skating trail at Kew Gardens. The skating trail will be approximately 200 metres in length, within an area of about 800 m2. The final alignment and footprint will be refined through design and technical review, based on existing park conditions and site constraints. The skating trail will add a new winter recreation experience in the park and enhance year-round recreation opportunities in the Beaches area.
The design of the new skating trail will be developed through community engagement. Budget, site limitations and operational requirements will also be considered throughout the design process.
The timeline is subject to change.
This project has been classified as a Consult project based on the International Association of Public Participation Spectrum. This means the City will seek feedback from community members and stakeholders at key stages of the project. Public input will help inform the design of the new skating trail.
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The project team shared information on the planned facility improvements and explored public interest in a new recreational ice-skating trail. Public feedback was strongly in favour of a new skating trail.
The project team held individual meetings with permit‑holding groups that use the recreational facilities in Kew Gardens. These meetings focused on upcoming state‑of‑good‑repair improvements and ensuring groups received notice about potential impacts to their permitted activities.
On November 13, 52 people attended a virtual public information session. The project team presented information and answered questions about upcoming improvements to community recreation facilities at Kew Gardens, including state-of-good-repair improvements and a proposed new ice-skating trail. A poll was conducted during the meeting where 38 people were in favour of a new skating trail, two people were opposed and six people were undecided.
In this phase, the project team will collect ideas for the new skating trail from the community, which will inform the development of a design option in Community Engagement Phase 2.
The community engagement activity anticipated in this phase is an online interactive thought exchange activity.
In this phase, the project team will work off the outcomes of Community Engagement Phase 1 to develop design options for the new skating trail. These will be presented to the community for feedback.
The anticipated outcome of this phase is the selection of a preferred design for the new skating trail.
The new skating trail is proposed to include:
The addition of a new recreational ice-skating trail is one part of a larger plan to renew existing recreation infrastructure and support facilities in Kew Gardens, under the City’s capital state of good repair program. The improvements include:
These state of good repair improvements will not be included in the broader community engagement process due to technical constraints and limited opportunity for public input. However, existing permit holders and user groups currently using these facilities will be consulted.
