Re-design of Barbara Ann Scott Park (College Park)

A new phase in the redesign of Barbara Ann Scott Park (also known as College Park) is underway behind the condos of The Residences of College Park, The Liberties, and Aura in the Bay / Yonge Condo Corridor.

At long last, a revamp of the north west corner of the park is taking shape. Originally, this quadrant of College Park featured a large and simple patch of green grass, but over time, it became used as a pedestrian cut-through to speed up foot travel across the square. This resulted in trampled grass that was further worn out from the great number of dogs in the area using the space to relieve themselves. Truly, the grass here never stool a chance. In the end, after only a few short years, the north west patch was a barren, dried out brown spot on an otherwise lively downtown park.

I actually attended a public consultation meeting for the original revitalization project a number of years ago (see a reference to that insight here, along with a progress update from 2018), and recall voicing concern that the park needed to have a real pedestrian access path for cutting diagonally across the square. So many residents use the park as a space to rest and relax outdoors, but just as many people are hurriedly popping through to get to another side of the block in the fastest way they can. Providing a diagonal path here just makes sense. The desire paths that ultimately showed up on the grass-filled areas of Barbara Ann Scott park are the evidence!

It’s really nice to see local improvements to public spaces. The revitalized park of 2018 wasn’t really living up to its full design potential, and so with this landscaping work, it’s feeling more fresh and useful to everyone who comes to the park now. All the better for the local condo dwellers of the Bay and Yonge Street Condo Corridor!