Councillor Adam Vaughan says there are so many dogs in the city's condo core, they've ceased to actually be a pet issue. "It's a livestock issue," he says.
As a result, the first work that anyone can remember on downtown's historic Clarence Square—including the folks at
ERA Architects who did an
exhaustive history of the park going back two centuries—will be heavy on the dog.
ERA's
Michael McClelland says the small park on the east side of Spadina at Wellington is one of only a very few planned and designed parks in the city, parks that were originally meant to be parks. In other words, parks that didn't start their lives as mere orphan spaces before ending up as green spaces. "They really need to be treated with a fair amount of care and concern," McClelland says.
As a result,
The Planning Partnership, the architectural firm that did the redesign, is staying true to the park's original, simple layout. The only major change is the inclusion of an area set aside specifically for dogs.
Vaughan says a recent study revealed that the number of dogs in the neighbourhood had reached seven per floor. According to the Planning Partnership, the soon-to-be-redeveloped
Globe and Mail site at Spadina and Front will on its own add 1,000 dogs to the neighbourhood.
"The impact that has on local parks is quite astonishing," Vaughan says.
So, large and small dog runs will be added, during work that begins this month. The hoarding is going up now, and The Planning Partnership's David Leinster believes the work will be largely finished, and the park re-opened, by late fall.
In addition to the canine accommodations, there has already been a traffic light installed on Spadina to facilitate pedestrian movement between Clarence Square and Victoria Square Park west on Wellington.
Writer: Bert Archer
Sources: Michael McClelland, Adam Vaughan, David Leinster
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