Toronto's newest park will just be torn up in a few years

Toronto is about to debut its newest park, though locals may not want to get too attached to this public green space.

A rapidly developing neighbourhood of tall towers forming on Toronto's central waterfront is getting its first green space.

However, the new park coming to 50 Queens Quay E., between Freeland and Cooper streets, will just be a placeholder to tide over locals until a permanent park is constructed at this site.

It may look like an overgrown meadow with gravel paths and immature trees as of July 2025, but this 10,000 square-metre space is primed to become a new waterfront destination in the coming years.

The site — formerly home to the LCBO headquarters — will eventually become the central park element for the massive Sugar Wharf community, a complex from developer Menkes that is already home to two completed condo towers and an office building that houses the new replacement LCBO headquarters.

Even more towers are on the way for this fledgling vertical neighbourhood, set to incorporate the preserved facades of the old LCBO building.

But before this permanent park begins construction, the site will exist as what the City calls a "Park in Progress," describing it as "a park space that will open for public use while a long-term vision is developed for the permanent park." 

According to the City, the space will offer grass, meadows, trees, pathways and seating to activate the site while a long-term plan is formulated and realized.

The City states that "the design, amenities and features of the permanent park will be determined through community engagement."

A new green space will soften the hard edges of an area primed to host some of Canada's tallest buildings in the coming years, though even this temporary park is coming with the typical construction delays this city has become synonymous with.

A sign posted to the park's perimeter states that the temporary space was scheduled to open in spring 2025, with a "timeline subject to change." 

Obviously, based on the photos of overgrown weeds and unkempt paths, that opening timeline has indeed changed.

The project's website, while not addressing reasons for the delays, states that the still-yet-to-open placeholder space will now open on an unannounced day this summer.

But enjoy it while it lasts, as the temporary space is set to close in spring 2029 to make way for construction of the permanent park — still in its early design stages.

Work on the permanent public space is expected to wrap up in 2030.