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Showing posts with the label leslie spit

the toronto that wasn't department

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Source: the Globe and Mail , March 19, 1976. Click on image for larger version. "A master plan for Aquatic Park in Lake Ontario calls for expenditures of $26 million for a 5,000 seat ampitheatre, campsites, a wildlife area, fishing piers, and accomodation for 1,500 power and sail craft," opened a 1976 Globe and Mail article on future plans for the Leslie Street Spit . The plan also provided for the private sector to build attractions like hostels, hotels, and a "20-acre marineland park." A Metro Toronto and Region Conservation Authority official noted that over 150 potential uses for the site were studied so that the proposed park would complement, not compete, with existing recreational facilities along the waterfront. Under the plan, the public would enjoy unrestricted access to 70 percent of the park's shoreline. The article doesn't address the pressing concern of what to do with the quonset hut in the middle of the spit , whose naming rights wer...

colouring the night at the leslie street spit

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Taken at the Leslie Street Spit, August 22, 2009. Bottom photo altered by selecting "auto color" in Photoshop. - JB

spit takes

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Busy weekend in the city, with at least 10 official events, fans going wild after Italy's World Cup victory, usual summer happenings, etc. Naturally, I escaped it all by heading to the Leslie Street spit, aka Tommy Thompson Park . While I usually explore the spit by bicycle, this time I felt like a quiet walk away from downtown. Being late afternoon, I didn't reach the end, but put in an hour's worth of strolling and photo taking. Trailers next to the disposal gates. Surprised to see a Bell phone. The park is constructed from a combination of dredging from the harbour, fill from construction projects and the remnants of the peninsula that once linked the Toronto Islands to the mainland. Perhaps the loneliest turnstile in Toronto. Wonder how many people use this for a quick laugh. Along the south shore lie mounds of rubble that resemble memorial sites, an impression created by the shredded ribbon of white police tape flying over each pile. These add to t...