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Imagine Relic Park

THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE

Relic Park creates a route from the Art Gallery of Ontario to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, connecting two of Toronto’s great cultural landmarks. The strong heritage presence and green oasis of Campbell House make a visual link across University Avenue to the Four Seasons Centre. The Grange Green Plan further establishes the rationale for a linear park within the core.

Relic Park transforms an overlooked part of the city into a unified corridor of green, utilizing rediscovered relics from Toronto’s past. The dynamic, high-quality linear park will feature parkettes and focal points that link the urban core at Campbell House through the Grange neighbourhood, ending at the AGO. This will create a unique opportunity for residents and visitors alike to rediscover fragments of Toronto’s past unexpectedly and delightfully contrasted with a natural environment of native species, reflecting Toronto’s Indigenous origins. Relic Park’s path will zigzag from Campbell House, north up Simcoe, across Michael Sweet Avenue, up St. Patrick, and along Dundas to McCaul. The park will feature architectural stone fragments or ‘relics’ that are currently in storage at Guild Park and Gardens.

The project will be undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 extends the existing 2018 installation of Guild stones in the Campbell House garden, and includes Michael Sweet Avenue and Simcoe Street, where a substantial new pedestrian zone of about 1300 square metres will be created in the heart of downtown. The new pedestrian zone is designed to support a wide range of public activities and will be a welcome respite from traffic noise.

Phase 2 will follow the completion of the condo developments at 234 Simcoe (Lanterra Deveopments) and 292 – 298 Dundas West (Tribute Communities). Artists’ Alley and the 52 Division Police Plaza in Phase 2 also have the potential for integration into Relic Park.

Arrangements of the carved stones will punctuate the route. Their placement will create gathering places for people and serve as focal points within the landscape. Large stone pieces, such as column sections and decorative window pieces, will be re- purposed into benches. Strategically placed interpretive signage will inform the public about the historic provenance of the stones.

Imagine Relic Park

The following sketches are early design exercises that have tested the feasibility of using the available relics at Guild Park and Gardens and applied these to Relic Park’s storyline. The intention is to treat the pieces as interactive elements that have been re-imagined to intrigue the public and invigorate an interest in Toronto’s heritage and our broader relationship with nature.

The sketches provide the basis for estimating the number of relic pieces required to create a powerful
statement in balance with the general scale of the public realm. The sketches also start to address the
requirements for presenting the pieces (superstructure/framework), the surroundings (garden or hardscape), and the overall character that the features create and how this relates with the urban context.

GUIDELINES GOVERNING THE INTERPRETATION OF RELIC PIECES

1. Replication/reproduction of complete sections of the original building should be avoided. The superstructure may suggest the continuation of the original structure, but should be distinguished from the original and reflect a contemporary approach that accentuates form and mass.

2. Do not make unnecessary attempts to mask the new superstructure holding the stones in place. The display of relics must be structurally sound, visually attractive and an artistic use of the materials.

3. Display the elements in the general relationship to the viewer that was originally intended. For example, in the case of feature installations, cornices and window/door keystones should generally be above window sills, door thresholds and foundation pieces. Some pieces may serve well as benches and can be used for this purpose notwithstanding their original location on the building.

4. Relics should be displayed with their natural stone patina as it currently exists. If the relic previously
received an applied treatment, retaining or replacing the
treatment may be appropriate.

5. Make the vignettes interactive. The pieces should be accessible to touch with a message of respect for the piece.

6. Pieces may be kinetic if a solution is proven to be safe for public interaction.

Hung on a central steel support column, the segments and fragments of the fluted Greek columns originally created for the Bank of Toronto appear to float and dance. This memorable interpretation should be considered for a gateway piece.

This is a whimsical application of cornice pieces from the original Bank of Toronto Building. Drawing on the iconic symbol of the noble lion as protector over his community and connecting to the rich lion iconography in the monuments along University Avenue, this assemblage will become a memorable and powerful piece in Relic Park.

The pieces are arranged in a circular form looking outwards and forming a ring of watchful faces that
appear to float overhead, suspended on a framework of steel columns. A green roof located on the top side of the slabs will support a crown of diverse woodland native plants that can be found at Guild Park and Gardens and would also have grown in the downtown core in precolonial times.