As long as I’ve lived and worked in Toronto, I’ve always been interested in how we can breathe new life into formerly under utilized urban spaces. From 2010 onwards, while working in the arts and through my photography, I got to witness so many older buildings come back to life, from the downtown core heading west, neighbourhood by neighbourhood and building by building.
Then seemingly overnight, in March of 2020, as we all know everything stopped. In the months that followed, being inside of buildings felt like a risk. Our proximity was limited to outdoor spaces.
And for the next several years we were reminded how integral our parks and public spaces are, as places for community, recreation, mental health, and so much more.
In a world where there is way to many forces seeking to isolate people and we are faced with an epidemic of loneliness we need great parks and public spaces where citizens can encounter one another. The Canadian urbanist Ken Greenberg even argues that great public spaces are integral to “make democracy work.”
Through documenting and filming with Waterfront Toronto, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing some unbelievable transformations of underutilized industrial land in the former Portlands (now a new island called Ookwemin Minising) into what has become literally the largest new park to open in Toronto in over a generation.
Last summer I got to make several trips to the first phase of the Park in advance of opening weekend. On the first day it was open to the public, we spent the day walking around intercepting folks and asking them what they liked about the park, and other questions including whether or not they knew they were standing on an island. 🤣
(Also on WaterfrontToronto YouTube)
It’s still fun to watch this video one year later, and see how genuinely excited everyone was to be there on the first day! And big credit to my studio mate Vuk Dragojevic for helping film as I got carried away in conversation.
I’ve had the chance to be been back a lot this summer, as the second phase of Biidaasige Park has now opened to the public:
This July, Biidaasige Park grew by 10 acres. This new parkland west of the Cherry Street Bridge on Ookwemin Minising includes Canoe Cove, a new stretch of water’s edge promenade, a 3,000-person event lawn, a scenic promontory overlooking the city, and the western section of the Lassonde Art Trail.
(Also on WaterfrontToronto YouTube)
In the video above the drone flyover shows the before and after comparing the progress over the last 7 years from 2019 to 2026
If you’re interested in seeing more about the transformation in this part of the city, apart from the videos we’ve been making, a former professor of mine, Vid Inglevics, and my peer Ryan Walker, have been on the ground for the last 7 years documenting the transformation which has culminated in a book launching this month:
They will be sharing stories, photographs and have the hardcover photo book for sale at a public event coming up on Wednesday September 23rd: More info and RSVP
☀️ 😎
All photos are my own, and copyright Andrew Williamson Photography (unless otherwise stated)
Thank you for reading (and watching) No AI tools were used in the creation of this post. Any grammatical or spelling errors are the result of my career as a professional photographer and filmmaker and not being a writer. ✌️
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