The underused and poorly maintained Thorncliffe Park playground will soon be transformed into a vibrant community hub complete with a cricket field, running track, amphitheater, butterfly garden, and extensive green space.
The $1.1 million
Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Project was initiated by a group of community activists and staff at Valley Park Middle School over two years ago in an effort to give the children and youth living in one of Toronto's densest low income neighbourhoods somewhere to play and congregate. The majority of Valley Park students live in nearby high-rise apartments in the Thorncliffe and Flemingdon neighbourghoods, two Toronto communities lacking in useable green space.
The years of lobbying and fund-raising are finally paying off. Early last month, Go Green formally signed a land license with Infrastructure Ontario. With the land license official, construction on the project is scheduled to start on the site as early as April 2013.
The $1.1 million project will be funded by a coalition of donors including Ontario Trillium Foundation, Live Green Toronto (a project of the City of Toronto), RBC Foundation, and the International Development & Relief Foundation.
"For the
Live Green grants we look at the environmental impact of a project as well as it's impact on the community and how the community will be engaged in the process," says Jeff Mcormick, senior environmental planner with the City of Toronto.
"And this project was a win-win on both counts."
The first monetary installment for the project, a $225,000 Capital Grant from Live Green Toronto, will be released by the end of the month and will be used towards the treatment of stormwater, a community garden on the site and other environmental components.
"This project has all these green elements that adhere to the Live Green mandate of positive environmental impact in terms of cleaning the air, reducing green house gas emissions, and improving water quality," says Mcormick.
"On the surface, when you see the name of the project--a cricket pitch--there might seem to be a disconnect there, but when you get into details of what the cricket pitch includes, and that it does include all these natural elements, that's why we're involved and that's why we're a huge supporter of this project."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Valley Park Go Green Cricket Field Project; Jeff Mcormick, Senior Environmental Planner, City of Toronto