Friends of Oriole ParkFriends of Oriole Park

Presentation To The Toronto Transit Commission

VISION FOR THE EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF ORIOLE PARK

February 2, 2011

City Hall Toronto,

Ontario

Friends of Oriole Park Friends of Oriole Park

Ulli Rath Resident of Deer Park community Lives next to Oriole Park + 40 years in mining industry President & CEO of several companies Married 44 years; 7 grandchildren

Grown up with Oriole Park Annual Easter egg hunt Help clean-up Park & Beltline

Interim President, Friends of Oriole Park (FOP) FOP is a community group with large diversified membership FOP participated in community consultations on Neshama Playground

design FOP focus on expansion and improvement of Oriole Park

Friends of Oriole ParkFriends of Oriole ParkOriole Park: Oriole Park is only major community park Small park (5.17 acres) heavily used, central part has seasonal

limitations Completion of new $1.7M playground will attract more park users Context: City avg. 4.54 acres parkland per 1,000 residents vs Deer

Park community 0.47 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents (see David Harvey report)

Our Vision: To expand Oriole Park by incorporation of a modest portion of the adjacent Davisville Yard site as part of a community based program to improve the Park. Fundamental Considerations:

1. Community need for increased parkland

2. November 17, 2009 TTC Yard Study – limited future for Davisville Yards

3. Our vision has strong community support

Friends of Oriole ParkFriends of Oriole ParkTTC Yard Study: Sheds insights into future of Davisville Yards:

Yards have “unique operational constraints” “Designed for 2 car pairs not 6 car Toronto Rocket trains” “Number of cars stored/cleaned overnight will be reduced” Future use “primarily for storage/maintenance of non-revenue fleet”

Financial cost/benefit analyses shows no significant difference between keeping Davisville Yards and a new yard north of Steeles.

Limited future role of Davisville Yards opens door to consider alternative uses

Friends of Oriole Park Friends of Oriole Park Our Proposal: Incorporation of approx. 2 acres of TTC Lands into Oriole Park

Much of these 2 acres used primarily for parking and temporary storage

2 acres is approx 20% of TTC Lands Would increase Oriole Park 40% and increase space for general park users 140%

TTC Lands could encompass garden plots, coffee- food concession, BBQ pits, community programs, Farmer’s Market etc. Detailed plans for 2 acres would be developed via public input and formal participation

Friends of Oriole ParkFriends of Oriole Park

The Way Forward: Establish “Working Group” between TTC and Park Advisory Group to Councillor Matlow

Develop joint short list for “transfer mechanism” of TTC Lands to Oriole Park:

Land exchange with City/ Build Toronto Public-Private partnership to fund acquisition Option for 100% private funding of acquisition User Fees from in-Park concessions to fund acquisition Other/combination of above etc.

If TTC plans to redevelop Davisville Headquarters and/or Davisville Yards; then

Community will have to be part of consultation process Previous Davisville Yard Study added no new green space FOP will be part of any redevelopment plans by TTC