Introduction:
The City of Toronto has set aside money for a revitalization of Margaret Fairley Park. Our City Councillor is encouraging us, the community, to take the lead in the park redesign process, and has informed us that “anything is possible.”
We held a community meeting in October 2010 to kick-start the process, and then set up a steering committee to plan the community consultation and design process.
The Process:
Our City Councillor’s office and City staff have advised us on the set of steps a community like ours must go through in order to undertake a Park redesign:
Steps | Tentative Timeline |
1) Set up a Community-led Design Process | · Initial Friends of Margaret Fairley Park community meeting Oct. 24, 2010 (advertised through HVRA & FMFP Listserves, and posted notices in the park. Attended by 17 people) · Steering Committee established Nov. 2010 |
2) Prepare a “Design Brief”: A visioning document, with the community’s big ideas about what we would like our park to be. It will not get into specifics (e.g. exact play-ground equipment), but will lay out broad principles to guide the design process. | · Community Meeting Feb. 13, 2011 (advertised through Listserves, HVRA newsletters, and household flyers) · Design Brief prepared by mid-March 2011. |
3) Hire and work with a designer firm: This process is carried out in partnership with the City, through a formal hiring process. The designer’s job is to conduct further community consultations and, using the design brief as a guide, turn our ideas into a specific design for the park. | · Hiring complete by June 2011. · Community Consultations through Summer 2011. · Final design ready by November 2011. |
4) Construct the new park: Once a design has been agreed upon, the City hires a construction company to put the new park in place. | · Hiring complete by Feb. 2012. · Construction through Spring 2012. |
5) Enjoy what we’ve created. Depending on what we design, this may include ongoing community coordination of certain events/activities. | · Summer 2012 to Forever |
The February 13, 2011 meeting is to gather big ideas … to make us think outside the bounds of our park as we know it … to discuss what our ideal park would look like. These ideas will be used to write the Design Brief and bring those dreams closer to reality.
For more information, please see margaretfairleypark.blogspot.com, or email fmfpark@gmail.com. Please contact us to join the Friends of MF Park Listserve.
