St. James Town West Park Re-design

Phase 1: Visioning for the Park

To help understand how the park is currently used, and what the community vision for the future was, the City conducted early consultations with local residents and stakeholders. Feedback was collected through an online questionnaire, engagement with Indigenous rights-holders and input from a Youth Resource Group.

Virtual Public Meeting

On April 20, a virtual public meeting was hosted by City staff to invite community members to learn more about the project, see the design plan options for the park redesign, and gather feedback through a virtual question-and-answer session. 54 community members attended, as well as the local Councillor.

Download the meeting presentation.

Online Survey

From April 20 to May 9, an online survey was conducted to gather community feedback on the design options for the park. Print copies of the survey were available at the St. James Town Community Corner (200 Wellesley Street East)

The survey received a total of 220 survey responses. Overall, participants were generally supportive of both designs with slightly more participants leaning towards Option 1 – Green Refuge. Many participants also indicated strong agreement with the way design elements were conveyed in Option 2 – Paths.

On April 22, a community sharing meeting was held. Indigenous Community Sharing Meetings are led by Bob Goulais, an Indigenous facilitator, and are meant to engage with Indigenous rights-holders and communities to understand and actively incorporate Indigenous perspectives into the design of the park.

Key feedback highlights from this meeting included:

• The importance of meaningfully integrating design ideas shared through Meeting 1 in collaboration with Rebecca Baird (the project’s Indigenous artist)
• Indigenous design elements and public art should be fully integrated into the park design rather than isolated elements.
• Explore opportunities to represent water and the story of the Spirit Hawk throughout the design and through public art.

On May 3, the City led its second Youth Resource Group meeting and conducted virtual classroom sessions with students at Jarvis Collegiate Institute and Rose Avenue Public School. Key feedback highlights from conversations with youth included:

• Mixed opinions on the skate spot with some identifying it as a valuable and unique neighbourhood amenity, while others identified that it may present conflicts with the nearby play plaza.
• The importance of community gathering spaces for events was further emphasized by youth, as well as recreational spaces for hanging out with friends and family.

Phase 2: Design Options

In spring 2021, the City gathered feedback on two concept design options for St. James Town West Park, to help inform the development of a Preferred Design. Feedback was collected through an online survey, virtual public meeting, engagement with Indigenous rights-holders and input from a Youth Resource Group.

Download the Phase 2 Consultation Summary report

On July 27, City staff hosted two interactive virtual workshops. Community members reviewed the preferred design and shared their perspectives, ideas and feedback on the designs in breakout rooms.

Download the meeting presentation

On July 21, Indigenous Community Sharing Meetings are led by Bob Goulais, an Indigenous facilitator, and are meant to engage with Indigenous rights-holders and communities to understand and actively incorporate Indigenous perspectives into the design of the park. The final community sharing meeting was held on July 21, 2021.

During this meeting, Indigenous participants suggested further design ideas including but not limited to:

• Incorporating the four sacred colours (yellow, red, black, and white)
• A yellow bird (representing language)
• Inclusion of Indigenous storytelling and languages through signs and interactive QR codes
• Traffic calming on Howard Street
• A dry riverbed rock garden
• An orange heart honouring the spirit of the children whose lives were lost through Residential Schools
• Soundscaping through wind chimes and water catchers
• Planting trees that are significant

A complete record of this meeting is included in Appendix B of the Phase 3 Consultation Summary report found in the Summer 2021, Phase 3: Preferred Design section.

An online survey was conducted to gather community feedback on the design options for the park. Print copies of the survey were available at the St. James Town Community Corner (200 Wellesley Street East), and was available in English, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Nepali, Tagalog and Tamil. The survey received a total of 162 survey responses.

On July 31 and August 4, pop-ups were hosted at St. James Town West Park. Community members were able to chat in-person with the project team, see the designs and provide feedback.

Phase 3: Preferred Design

In the summer of 2021 the City collected feedback on the Preferred Design for St. James Town West Park. Feedback was collected through an online survey, virtual community workshops, pop-ups in the park, engagement with Indigenous rights-holders and input from a Youth Resource Group.

The features that received the most support were:

• Pathways providing direct routes to places participants wish to travel to.
• Lighting that created a safe and welcoming space for park users.
• Indigenous place-keeping is thoughtfully and meaningfully incorporated into the overall design.
• Seating options and places to sit and enjoy the park.

There was also strong support for features that enable play, exercise, and community events at the park, and for the mix of natural elements and lawn space that is proposed.

Download the Phase 3 Consultation Summary Report .