Toronto's newest park already got a massive expansion

Biidaasige Park (pronounced "bee-daw-si-geh") is Toronto's newest waterfront public space, and as of Friday, it's a whole lot bigger.

Located near Cherry Street on the artificial island of Ookwemin Minising ("place of the black cherry trees") in Toronto's Port Lands, 10 new acres of the park were officially unveiled on Friday morning.

The first phase of the ambitious 50-acre park opened last July, bringing stunning views of the downtown skyline, elaborate play structures including a unique basketball hoops sculpture and even a zipline. 

Now, the latest expansion adds another 10 acres of green space — five times the size of Sugar Beach and almost the area of Rogers Centre — making Toronto's newest park all that more impressive.

New additions include a paddling course called Canoe Cove, a 3,000-person event lawn, a preserved 300-ton marine cargo crane known as the Atlas Crane, and seven new public art installations along the four-kilometre Lassonde Art Trail. 

Existing and planned Indigenous design features include a Fire Holder, Teaching Signifier Sturgeon Stones, and Directional Compasses/Marker Trees, which honour the area's Indigenous history.

The opening of the park's western section also strengthens its connection to both Lake Ontario and a newly restored one-kilometre stretch of the Don River.

If you haven't visited yet, there's never been a better time. You can spend the day kayaking on the water, cycling the new trails, photographing local wildlife, or simply finding a sunny spot to sit down with a good book.

Getting there is easy via the new East-West Water Shuttle or by taking the TTC's 72D Pape or 114 Queens Quay East bus.

Waterfront Toronto says the park isn't finished either, with another five acres of parkland set to open at a later date.