That the smell of molasses? No, it's Sugar Beach

As mentioned in last week's post on the East Bayside project, we promised to shed a little more light on the two public spaces to be formed on the shore of Queens Quay East. Above is a rendering from the Waterfront Toronto site of Sugar Beach.

More pictures of the project over at the designer for the park. You can see them here:


This firm also designed the now quasi infamous HTO park, with the sand and yellow umbrellas. A picture QQL snapped a few weeks ago in the middle of winter:



Here's more about the Sugar Beach Park, from the Waterfront Toronto site:

The 1 hectare Sugar Beach park located at the foot of Jarvis Street across the slip from the Redpath Sugar factory is slated for completion in 2010. Designed by Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes of Montreal, Sugar Beach is the second urban beach along Toronto’s waterfront and is inspired by the successful HtO urban beach park & Toronto’s Cumberland park. The design is composed of three spaces; an urban beach with brightly coloured umbrellas, a water’s edge promenade and thoroughfare, and a muti-functional event plaza space. The plaza space will also accommodate the public music events Corus Entertainment is expected to host.

Speaking of Sugar plant, there was a story in the Toronto Star recently about worries the Redpath plan would be a bother to residents of new condos that will be built on Queens Quay East. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Quoted in the Star.

"Our concern is, while we can make the plant reasonably quiet, ships are not quiet," says Jonathan Bamberger, president of Redpath Sugar, a 50-year-old facility at the foot of Yonge St., smack in the heart of a rapidly developing section of Toronto's waterfront.

"When the ship comes in it might turn around, it might arrive at 2 in the morning. The horn blows, the cranes move," he says, adding, "It's not good to have condominiums right next to something that is a 24-hour operation outside."

Noise complaints seem to be a common complaint of the waterfront community.

Spadina Wavedeck considered for Brit design award

We've been saving this post for closer to the award date in February, but Waterfront Toronto decided to remind editors with a news release a few days ago in effort to spark some interest. Basically, the Wavedeck, designed by West 8, has been nominated for a British design award.

More from the presser that you can read in full here:

Waterfront Toronto's Spadina WaveDeck has been nominated for a prestigious 2009 Brit Insurance Design Award in the category of architecture and is the first Canadian project ever to be short-listed for the awards.

The Brit Insurance Design Awards are the Design Museum of London's annual exploration of the most innovative and forward-looking new work in design. One hundred projects from around the world are nominated in seven categories, which include architecture, fashion, furniture, graphics, interactive, product and transport.

Opened in September 2008, the Spadina WaveDeck is the first in a series of spectacular new public spaces being built along Toronto's waterfront. Designed by the internationally recognized and award-winning team of West 8 from Rotterdam and du Toit Allsopp Hillier (DTAH) from Toronto, the new wavedeck is a gateway to the lakefront at a site that previously lacked public access.

The geometry of the 630 square-metre timber deck uses playful curves that are constantly changing to provide for a flexible gathering space. The stairs act as an informal amphitheatre and the varying heights of the deck allow for different vantage points and ultimately different experiences with the lake. In the evenings, the space is kept animated with 24 underwater LED lights.

The 'Wavedeck' look will be extended on the waterfront in the years to come. We'll be watching the results of the awards in February.

Weekend guide to Queens Quay

What's going on in our area (minus major league sporting events, you know about those). Know of any events? Leave a comment or mail queensquaylife@gmail.com

Harbourfront Centre
Saturday, Jan 10: DJ SK8 Night: 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. (link)
Skating at Natrel Rink (prices and hours)

Power Plant (link)
Sunday, Jan 11: 2 p.m.
Shawn Micallef is a Toronto-based writer, Associate Editor of Spacing Magazine and co-founder of [murmur], the location-based mobile phone documentary project.

Air Canada Centre
Saturday, Jan 10: Rock vs. Bandits (link)
Lacrosse action between Toronto and Buffalo starts at 7 p.m.

Rogers Centre
Friday, Jan. 9: AC/DC Black Ice Tour (link)
Second time AC/DC has played Toronto in months. It's sold out but there will be scalpers.

Community meetings

A few things on the hopper:

[Via the Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association]

Downtown West Multi-Unit Solar Energy Project
Next meeting: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 7:30 pm
The Kensington Lofts, 21 Nassau Street -- just off Spadina on the north side of Kensington Market.

There are two exciting speakers lined up. Derrick Finn will describe what is involved in doing an energy audit in a multi-unit building. And then Gordon Graff will present The Grow Project, which is his design for a building to replace the Moss Park Armoury. Providing affordable housing for 1000 people, his building would be self-sufficient in energy and food production, harvest rainwater, and treat all of its sewage on site. Everyone is welcome.

[Via councillor Adam Vaughan]

Date: January 14 2009
Time: 7-8:30pm
Location: May Robinson Apts Auditorium, 20 West Lodge Ave

14 Division and the Community Police Liaison Committee

Invite you to a Town Hall Meeting

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
7:00pm to 8:30pm

May Robinson Apartments Auditorium
20 West Lodge Avenue (Queen & Landsdowne)

Please send your Community concerns to 14division@torontopolice.on.ca prior to the meeting

Guest Speaker: Chief of Police William Blair

Watching Queens Quay's eastern front: East Bayside

Many of us Queens Quay dwellers venture out east beyond Yonge Street. We go east to get to the big LCBO or to the mega Loblaws at Jarvis. Some of us would venture as far as the Guvernment or maybe even visit one of the piers.

As well, any cyclist, occassional runner or, more likely, a driver who has used Queens Quay as a median to get from downtown to the Beaches knows the kilometre or so stretch from Jarvis to Cherry Street. It's vast, unhospital, and lonely. In reality, it's one of the key routes that links up to the waterfront and the last big parcels of land that's disconnecting us from the water.

Walk on the south side of Queens Quay and you'll be forced to either walk on railroad tracks right in front of the sugar factory or cross to the north side.

What is now a relatively quiet area is about to change with a project called East Bayfront, set to bring massive development. We'll save big opinions on this for later posts but it's at least worth looking at the area.

Waterfront Toronto calls it the jewel in the waterfront crown (excuse us, we think York to Bathurst ain't bad, let alone the area south of High Park -- whoops, so much for lacking in commentary).

The picture below, taken from their website and highlighted through some photoshopping, is the area in question. Right now, west of the the sugar plant, there's starting to be activity. For many years, it was used as vacant land or for some short of warehouse use. There's also that sports dome at Sherbourne.



Some randomness about the project (see website here):

-Transit a 5 minute walk (No plans yet of a streetcar line? We know there's a bus that stops in front of the Loblaws and the nearest Streetcar is north at King street or west at the Westin (a kilometre a way -- 5 minutes is a very quick walk)

-It's 22 hectares (about 50 football fields if you're wondering. American football fields)

-6000 residential units (1000 of them affordable).

-Jobs for 8000

-A 1.5K waterfront walkway

Two parks to be completed by 2010, Sugar Beach (named, presumably after the molasses smelling Redpath facility) and Sherbourne Park (named after, well, the street). We'll post renderings of both of them tomorrow.

Their sales pitch:

"Low scale development along the water's edge"

"2.5 million sq. ft. of commercial space"

The official PR line:
"East Bayfront is a 22-hectare (55-acre) site, envisioned to be a showcase dynamic mixed-use community - a place of design excellence, high levels of sustainability and strong relationships to the water's edge. East Bayfront will become an animated downtown neighbourhood where people are drawn to live, work and play.

There are two development sites (Bayside and Parkside):


Parkside pictured top right in blue, a one acre site at Queens Quay East and Lower Sherbourne Street, has 700,000 sq ft for mixed used

Who's short listed to build:

The Daniels Corporation (Canada): Builder developer that built the Eaton Centre

The Great Gulf Group of Companies (Canada): firm that builds family homes

Menkes Development Ltd. (Canada) and AEW Capital Management LP (USA): home, condo and commercial builder

Tridel Builders Inc. (Canada) and Concert Properties Ltd. (Canada): Tridel is a major condo builder (list of past condos). Concert Properties is a condo builder with most projects in B.C.

Walker Corporation Pty Ltd. (Australia) and Cityzen Development Corporation (Canada): Walker is based in Australia and Cityzen is building the Pier 27 project.


Bayside, a 13 acre site between Lower Sherbourne Street and Parliament Street has (1.7 million sq ft) of mixed-use development potential.

Short listed teams:

The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited (Canada), Monarch (Canada),
Fram Building Group Ltd. (Canada) and Albanese Development Corporation (USA): Cadillac Fairview in commercial real estate and Monarch is a condo and home builder. Fram is also a condo and home developer.

Hines (USA)

Menkes Development Ltd. (Canada) and AEW Capital Management LP (USA): home, condo and commercial builder

Walker Corporation Pty Ltd. (Australia) and Cityzen Development Corporation (Canada): Walker is based in Australia and Cityzen is building the Pier 27 project.

Arts & crafts workshops at Harbourfront Centre start Jan. 18

[via LSM Newswire]

Travel to Harbourfront Centre, the most memorable and economical destination ever, to escape the winter cold and uncrate the spring sun with the city's best Courses & Workshops! Harbourfront Centre is pleased to offer a diverse and exciting line-up of contemporary culture courses throughout the winter and spring months. Adults can learn to paint; create their own website; explore the world of circus arts; tour the city's culinary neighbourhoods; go gallery hopping; make delicious candies and chocolates just in time for Valentine's Day; attend tea socials; join a book club; take a glass blowing course; and much more! Harbourfront Centre's Courses & Workshops are affordable and provide a perfect environment for adults to learn or improve skills, and expand their social circle with like-minded individuals at Toronto's leading arts and cultural centre.

Courses & Workshops begin on January 18, 2009 at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West. Register early as class size is limited. To register or for more information, the public can call 416-973-4093, e-mail learning@harbourfrontcentre.com or visit harbourfrontcentre.com/learn.