Strengthening connections between Torontonians and Lake Ontario
Is Toronto on the precipice of being a swimmable community?
It’s easy to see Ontario Place as it is now and enjoy this nostalgic hidden gem. It has been a haven, a life saver, for many during Covid. And as a result, those who cherish the space feel concern about its future. And their concern is valid. Toronto urgently needs to restore human connection to and protection of Lake Ontario’s valuable freshwater. A swimmable community is at the core of renewal. That is why we are excited about the opportunity for expanding access to recreation in Lake Ontario.
It has been a long road. When we first learned that Ontario Place’s future was being given a second chance, many of us showed up in groves to demand that these 63 hectares be repurposed for the public—for the people already using the space as is. Ontario Place’s advocates were especially emboldened when the current provincial government announced it’s revitalization process,
We won a momentous victory in the revitalization process in December 2020, when the government announced that “key heritage and recreational features will remain, such as the Cinesphere, the pods, Trillium Park and the William G. Davis Trail.”
The announcement was proof that people's power worked. It all started in August of 2018, when we gathered at the western side of the West Island and reimagined what Ontario Place could become, with the goal of one day taking down the ‘no swimming’ signs behind us.
In the winter, we met in frigid temperatures to walk around the West Island and admire it’s four-season beauty.
In the summer, we sampled the waters at the West Beach with citizen scientists and shared water quality data on Swim Guide so that people knew when the water there was clean enough to swim in.
Since we've started monitoring, the number of people using Ontario Place West Island Beach has increased more than 98%.
These were only the initial steps we took in bringing awareness to a space that we envisioned as swimmable, but we weren’t alone in our mission. Therme Group, an Austrian-based developer, noticed Lake Ontario Waterkeeper’s water monitoring results and advocacy to make Ontario Place swimmable.
Today, Therme Group was announced as one of three companies tapped to be the architects of reimagining Ontario Place.
As part of their revitalization plans, comes a new publicly accessible beach for swimming. We’re extremely encouraged that Therme’s concept, of reconnecting people with the Lake and creating a destination that combines family, fun, culture and relaxation, aligns with our goals.
It was easy to support this, seeing their goal is to create an affordable, family friendly facility that is surrounded by trails, open spaces, and plenty of opportunities for people to have a swim in some of the cleanest water on Toronto’s waterfront. Based on its vision, it will be a welcome addition to our city.
While this is a huge step towards creating a more swimmable Toronto, there is still more needed for this grand endeavour of ours. Even so, today marks a small but fundamental victory in that journey.
Down the coastline of Lake Ontario, in Kingston, is where you can see the final product of this kind of dream: The Gord Edger Downie Pier.
This was our first example of what comes from the simplicity of jumping into water. Kingston’s waterfront restoration started there nine-years previously with a mass swim that turned it into Canada’s first deep water urban swimming pier.
The architecture firm, Claude Cormier + Associates, took the pier in Kingston to limits many of us had only dreamed of. With a revolutionary design that incorporated natural and accessible features the pier brought Kingston’s waterfront to life and connected people with the water’s edge like never before.
Now, it’s time for all of us to witness—and benefit from the power of people swimming again, in Toronto.