Giant glowing wall will divide busy Toronto destination from Gardiner Expressway

Toronto's Exhibition Place will soon boast a giant, colourful wall honouring Indigenous history and separating the popular destination from the chaos of the Gardiner Expressway.

The recent demolition of former Kids World buildings at Exhibition Place removed a scar from the landscape while creating a new problem: exposing Centennial Square's quiet atmosphere to the busy Gardiner Expressway to the north.

The City is advancing a plan to re-instate a separation between the park and the exhaust-choked highway that will showcase the land's Indigenous history, known as the Indigenous Feature Wall at Centennial Square.

Planners describe this addition as something likely to become "a must-see attraction for visitors and the community at large."

The new feature got its start in 2023 when Exhibition Place staff contracted Studio TLA to develop a master plan for the entire square.

Community input further shaped the project, with locals overwhelmingly advocating for an Indigenous theme and artwork highlighting the area's history.

Through engagement with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Indigenous artists were selected to prepare conceptual designs, which were presented in an October 2023 meeting and informed the final design.

The tender for this project was issued in February, with the winning (read: lowest) bidder, Duron Ontario Ltd., receiving the contract at a cost of $2.736 million, to be funded from the City's approved 2024 State of Good Repair Capital Budget.

The chair of the Exhibition Place Board, in consultation with the CEO of Exhibition Place, approved this contract award on March 13, 2024, stressing the urgency of moving the project along with the busy summer season just around the corner.

The contract was recommended for approval on April 11.