Waterfront group unveils Parliament St. proposal
Tri-government organization wants to create ‘world-class public destination’ in Toronto
Swimming from Toronto’s downtown waterfront — a health-risking feat a generation ago — could be part of a redeveloped “Parliament Slip” project that would also feature kayaking, a floating restaurant and more.
Waterfront Toronto on Monday released its proposal for Parliament Street and Queens Quay, and visual depictions as part of a broader Lake Ontario “marine use strategy,” all subject to public consultation before any of it gets built.
The tri-government waterfront development says Parliament Slip would help connect Sugar Beach, Spadina WaveDecks and other sites to the west to Villiers Island and a reconfigured Don River mouth being built to the east.
Parliament Slip has “the potential to be a world-class public destination for swimming, kayaking, boating, entertainment and dining never seen in Canada before,” Waterfront Toronto said in a news release.
The agency envisions another WaveDeck — an undulating dock near the water’s edge — as the anchor to an amphitheatre, canoe and kayak launch, floating dock and restaurant, and potentially event spaces and retail.
A rendering of what the project could look like shows people splashing in what could be open water or a contained pool surrounded by docking.
“We want the Parliament Slip to be a destination that supports a number of water activities and, if possible, both a lakeside pool and the opportunity for open-water swimming would be included,” said Waterfront Toronto’s Andrew Tumilty.
Efforts to clean up Lake Ontario have enabled a comeback for lake dips in recent years at sites including Cherry Beach, Ashbridge’s Bay and the Toronto islands, where coloured flags show if the water is safe for swimming.
The busy working harbour, however, could pose a greater challenge for openlake swimming, including fuel from vessels and bacteria levels, which a 2017 Toronto Star/Ryerson School of Journalism investigation found sometimes soar beyond safe levels.
Paris has transformed part of a oncepolluted river canal into swimming pools by draining it, cleaning the bottom and continually testing the water for safety.
Tumilty said Waterfront Toronto, jointly funded by the federal, Ontario and Toronto governments, will now form a marine co-ordination committee to look at Parliament Slip and other projects envisioned by the marine strategy.
The agency hopes to hold public consultations, building on ones that led to the formulation of the strategy, in “the latter half of 2021.”
“Once a more defined picture of the scope of the Parliament Slip has been developed, then as with all of Waterfront Toronto’s public realm projects, a timeline for the necessary design and construction procurements will be determined,” Tumilty said.
Public feedback last fall led to one proposal being dropped from the final report: three potential “water nodes in the outer harbour.”
“As a result of this feedback, the marine nodes (water-taxi/sea bus/ferry nodes) at Tommy Thompson Park, Cherry Beach and Cherry Beach East were removed from the final report,” Waterfront Toronto says.
“Any future water-taxi/sea bus expansion routes will be subject to a feasibility study, which will include consultation before any decisions are made.”