Stunning new Toronto park set to open next year

The Yonge Street site of the former Newtonbrook Plaza strip mall in North York has been built out with the first two towers in what will eventually be a four-building community, an infusion of density that is funding a new park and community centre for the area.

Community benefits funded through the sprawling M2M Condos development at Yonge and Cummer include a planned community centre at the base of the complex, facing a new public park that will be constructed across Olympic Garden Drive to the east.

Construction for the new 6,000-square-metre park and almost 4,300-square-metre Newtonbrook Community Recreation Centre is slated to begin this year. Together, the projects will create a new community focal point at what was once a strip mall's nondescript rear frontage.

Toronto will be getting a brand new community centre and park https://t.co/91EcwzegCg #Toronto #CityofTO

— blogTO (@blogTO) September 6, 2021

Recent renderings of the yet-to-be-named park on Olympic Garden Drive show off a space with distinctive lighting and a range of activations.

Features will include a sizeable play area for children with swings and a large net climber, as well as a large multi-use plaza with an impressive shade structure, outdoor furniture and a splash pad.

There will also be plenty of other features for parkgoers of all ages, including an outdoor fitness area complete with a bamboo jungle obstacle course, as well as other fitness amenities like a callisthenics area and step benches at various heights.

Among the ample seating options, the park will include long benches, cafe-style tables and chairs, and Muskoka chairs fronting an open space.

Plantings will be a prominent feature in this heavily landscaped public space, incorporating a mix of trees, shrubs and perennial plantings to provide shade and natural buffers. Lighting is also listed as a key element, with a variety of lighting styles planned across the park.

The final stage of community engagement for the park occurred in May 2022, when a preferred design was presented to locals.

While only 48 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the preferred design — a decrease from the previous consultation's 51 per cent — the vast majority of respondents in a 2022 survey supported the level of plantings, seating, lighting, and other infrastructure planned for the park.

The new space is expected to complete its construction drawing preparation phase by this summer, and construction is anticipated to begin in late winter 2024-2025.

A fall 2025 opening is currently anticipated, though the City states that this timeline is subject to change.