Rail deck park will be 'legacy project' for Toronto, city councillor says

Toronto's proposed rail deck park could be a "legacy project"for the city, sayscouncillorJoeCressy.

Cressyannounced plans to build the park, which would span 8.5 hectares (or 21 acres)along the city's waterfront rail corridor fromBathurstStreet to just past the Rogers Centre, with Toronto Mayor John Tory on Wednesday.

• Massive downtown #RailDeckPark will cover railway tracks from Rogers Centre to Bathurst

"The only way we can create signature and central new parks and public spaces is by being a little more creative,"saidCressy, the councillor for Ward 20 where the proposed park will be,in an interview with Metro Morning.

"The reality is we do not have 21 acres of land in downtown Toronto ... waiting to be assembled, bought and turned into a park."

To build the park the city will need to buythe air rights to the space above the railway tracks, an area now owned byMetrolinx, the Canadian National Railway and Toronto Terminals Railway. After those rights are secured, the city will have to rezone the area so it is designated explicitly for park use,Cressysaid.

Cressysaid the park will come with a cost, but that it's a necessary investmentand he believes city council supports it.

"Far too often in the past these great projects get tied up in a quick discussion of nickel anddimingthem and they don't get done. That's not how we're approaching this,"Cressy said.

City, province, feds to contribute to cost

The park will come with a hefty price tag,Cressysaid. A similar park in Chicago, Millennium Park,cost $33 million per acre.

"We know it will not be cheap, that's clear, and it's going to take years,"saidCressy.

He said the city plans to partner with both the province and the federal government to pay for the project. It will also rely on a city fund for park acquisitionand money designated for park space from development charges to cover the cost.

Toronto residents react to #RailDeckPark

8 years ago

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How are Toronto residents reacting to #RailDeckPark?

"It's not going to happen overnight,"saidCressy. "We have to do our due diligence."

"The opportunity to create a new central park in the area of downtown Toronto where a lot of the tourism is, where a lot of the workers are, that will serve to be, I think, a real economic boom for the city as a destination but also the type of project we should have done 20 years ago."