Mayor John Tory pitches ‘signature’ big park over downtown rail corridor

Toronto Mayor John Tory has unveiled an audacious proposal that would lay down an 8.5-hectare park on top of the rail corridor just west of the CN Tower, but admits key details including cost are a ways off from being figured out.

The project would radically transform the stretch of track from Bathurst Street to the Rogers Centre, an area where the only current green is the paint on GO trains.

Tory told reporters Wednesday it would be “not just any park — but a signature park, a big park, a bold park” that would draw in tourists and people from all over the city.

He said that the downtown core has the lowest amount of parkland in Toronto, with most parks being small parkettes. With the downtown population set to double over the next 25 years, and surrounding condo-dwellers becoming families, a big park is desperately needed, Tory said.

The project, if approved, would be a years-long process involving complex negotiations and a bill likely in the hundreds of millions, Tory said.

City staff will present a report to executive committee this September outlining next steps, which will begin with securing the air rights for the corridor and turning the big-picture idea into an official plan. Tory said a discussion has been started with the railroads and Metrolinx.

Tory offered few details on where the money would come from — a big piece of the puzzle given similar parks such as Chicago’s Millennium Park cost tens of millions per acre — but said options will be in the staff report, adding he’d like the private sector to pitch in.

“It can’t be outlined with precision because to some extent it’s uncharted territory,” said Tory.

WATCH: How do Toronto’s more than 1,500 parks compare with other cities? A look at green spaces.

0:31 How do Toronto’s parks compare to other cities?

But he was confident the park can be built.

“We are going to move this forward and make it happen.”

Local Coun. Joe Cressy, who attended the announcement, said “if you live in a condo tower, the park becomes your backyard.”

He called the project “bold, ambitious and exactly the type of big thinking the City of Toronto is ready for.”

However, another councillor, Josh Matlow, took to Twitter to question the wisdom of announcing the proposal before the basics have been worked out.

He later tweeted the idea “is a remarkable proposal” that should become a reality.

Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat said what’s being dubbed the Rail Deck Park would create “a continuous urban heart for Toronto.”

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