Sign this petition if you want to save Rail Deck Park!

The City of Toronto’s plan to build Rail Deck Park is in jeopardy. The Province's Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) has sided with developers seeking to build mixed-use towers over the rail corridor instead. 

Rail Deck Park is a proposed 21-acre stretch of parkland over the rail corridor, south of Front Street West between Bathurst Street and Blue Jays Way. This area is the last remaining site in downtown Toronto which is suitable for a large, signature park to serve our rapidly growing downtown population.
 
This bold vision is a plan well worth fighting for. Rail Deck Park is an investment in the future of our city and the vibrancy and livability of the downtown core. The pandemic has highlighted the need for parkland in dense urban areas where not everyone has a backyard or outdoor space. Rail Deck Park will help address the parkland deficiency in downtown Toronto and support the development of complete communities. Further, Rail Deck Park will be a world-class tourist destination, similar to Millennium Park in Chicago. The positive impact of Millennium Park on Chicago’s economy is well-documented.

The mixed-use tower proposal, named the ORCA Project, is a whale of a proposal. According to their March 2020 revised concept plan, the developers want to build six residential towers, ranging from 43- to 46-storeys, and a 36-storey office tower between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue. Plus, one non-residential and two residential towers east of Spadina Avenue to Blue Jays Way. This proposal includes 3,500 condo units. Also, the planning tribunal ruling stipulated that the developers are under no obligation to include green space in their mixed-use tower development.

Update:  March 2022 the developers announced another revision to their mixed-use tower proposal and renamed it the Rail Deck District. They now want to build 11 skyscrapers (some as tall as 70 storeys!) which will include nearly 6,000 condo units (yikes!), a hotel and some retail space.

There are plenty of other areas to build mixed-use towers. Yet, the developers want to bulldoze plans for a 21-acre park in one of the most densely populated and park deprived neighbourhoods in Canada.

So, let’s all channel our Jane Jacobs and fight to ensure liveability and quality of life for downtown families today and in the future. Toronto's downtown population is projected to grow to 475,000 by 2041. Therefore, we need to fight for every inch of green space we can get!

Sign this petition if you want to save Rail Deck Park!