#TOtheWaterfront: Opening the Blue Edge
Last Friday, I was at the official opening of the revitalized Queen’s Quay. But I get ahead of myself.
Four years ago, I posted about accessibility barriers in the path to the beach. Subsequently my MPP, Glen Murray, a true champion of universal design, facilitated a tour of SugarBeach with staff from Waterfront Toronto. It was a great day, with lots of opportunity to talk about accessibility, barriers, and solutions. At the end, they committed to involving people with disabilities in the consultation process as they began the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront.
Six months later, I got a call. Would I be willing to serve on the Construction Liaison Committee (CLC) of the project? Being asked to put my money where my mouth was, of course I said yes.
It’s been an amazing 3 and a half years. The monthly meetings of the CLC has taken us from the planning stage of a huge and complicated revitalization of Queens Quay (the street that runs along the waterfront), to the completion of this fantastic project. Seeing it all behind the scenes has given me and the other community stakeholders on the committee a thorough understanding of what goes into construction. Waterfront Toronto committed from the start to excellence and throughout the last four years, they’ve lived that commitment. This wasn’t about the lowest bidder and cutting corners. This was about quality materials and quality workmanship coming together to build something beautiful, usable, and long-lasting. (see before and after photos)
The Promenade is one of my favourite parts of the revitalization. It’s made of Canadian granite. 2.4 million pieces of it.
And that’s just one part of the project. There’s lots more. I learned about dewatering, an essential process in construction on the waterfront, and the careful thought that went into selecting the trees for the Promenade, including much about Silva cells. There was collaboration between Waterfront Toronto’s construction, coordinated in an elaborate dance with upgrading from Hydro and TTC. They worked through two of the coldest winters we’ve seen in decades, and still delivered on time.
And it’s not just about the street, but innovative public spaces, as well. My beloved Sugar Beach is part of the revitalization project. So is it HTO Park (here seen earlier this year)
Let’s talk about the ribbon. Over 600 m long (longer than the CN tower is tall), the blue ribbon was held by volunteers all along Queens Quay. It was unzipped rather than cut, and pieces are going to be used by artists and kids programs, celebrating the new Blue Edge.
And then there was a party at HTO Park which continued right into the Redpath Waterfront Festival. It was a very good day.
I’m very proud of being part of the waterfront revitalization process and proud of Waterfront Toronto. It staffed by people who are passionate about their work, and who work hard to create something unique and iconic for Toronto.
Come check it out. Go #TOtheWaterfront.