Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue has been identified by the City of Toronto as an area in need of increased open space. Now, vital steps have been taken in determining how to improve the area’s public space.
After issuing a request for proposals in April for a study on open park space at Yonge and Eglinton, Coun. Josh Matlow said a firm has been selected. “There has been a tender, and we’re going to go with a firm called Public Work,” said Matlow.
Matlow is a passionate proponent of building a park at the former site of the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) Eglinton Bus Barns.
In a recent Planning Act Section 37 agreement from developers Bazis International, $2 million was guaranteed to the city for the acquisition of land for a new park. At a July 16 meeting, Toronto City Council adopted a recommendation that the $2 million go toward acquiring the land of the bus barns.
TTC chair Karen Stintz said, despite the approval, there’s still plenty to be determined: “The governing bylaws for the bus barns already include provision for a public park,” she said. “That won’t happen until after the Eglinton LRT is built.”
She says that the light rapid transit line construction will last another 10 years. Until then, the amount of space going from the bus barns to the park is yet to be determined.