Harbour Square Park is a park in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada right on the

Toronto harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational b ...

. It is next to the Harbour Square condos, the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and the

Westin Harbour Castle The Westin Harbour Castle Toronto is a large hotel opened in 1975 on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Westin Hotels chain within Marriott International. History The hotel was built by the Campeau Corporation, after C ...

. It is south of Queens Quay and adjacent to the Queens Quay streetcar station. It contains a

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of br ...

and a permanent public art installation.

History

The park opened as part of a planned 85 million dollar waterfront project started in 1964, and completed in the early 1970s at the cost of 250 million dollarsPath promised through mud to ferry dock, March 10, 1972, Toronto Star that would also see the Bay Street shipping slip filled, the Harbour Castle Hilton and Harbour Square condos built. The park is where the

ferry terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for example) ...

used to be before it was shifted to the east side of the park for this redevelopment. This complex and park, a predecessor to the Harbourfront project (today

Harbourfront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...

), was one of the first redevelopments of the waterfront, after its deindustrialization. The Park was designed by Fleisher Ridout Partnership Inc., Landscape Architects. Development of the site was governed by a tripartite agreement between

Campeau Corporation Campeau Corporation was a Canadian real estate development and investment company founded by entrepreneur Robert Campeau. It was infamous from its ultimately unsuccessful acquisitions of American department store holding companies Allied Sto ...

, the Toronto Harbour Commission and the City of Toronto. The development evoked "vociferous" criticism, based on size and isolation of the water's edge. In 2014, trees were planted in memory of the victims of the Khojaly massacre.

Public art

The ''Sundial Folly'' is a concrete sphere that you can go inside, and was created by John Fung and Paul Figueiredo and installed in 1995.What’s the meaning of this?
,

The Grid The Grid is an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Cle ...

, Jacob Rutka, August 31, 2011

Location

The park is located near the foot of

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James ...

, just south of Queens Quay.The Fixer: A stroll on the Harbour Square boardwalk could turn into a stumble
Jack Lakey, July 17, 2012, Toronto Star

References

{{Commons category, Harbour Square Park Parks in Toronto Harbourfront, Toronto