Back to Square one for the Baycrest Park Park in Toronto Reno – and locals are disappointed – Yahoo News Canada

Eight years after the launch of the green space reinforcement plan in northern Toronto, he returns to a square for the Baycrest Park – and this is left to the local disappointed and angry.

Where they were told from the city to expect a new playground, sports fields, fountains, lighting, pedestrian paths and modern new toilets, all residents see today a neglected construction site.

Broken fence, mounds on the ground, construction debris and semi -regulated structures, they fill nine hectares in the area of ​​Alan Road and the highway 401.

The city accuses the delay of a dispute with the contractor.

Weeds, construction debris and mounds on the ground are everything else when construction was stopped in the revival of the park about 18 months ago. (Mike Mind/CBC)

“It’s extremely annoying and disappointing,” said longtime resident Avi Levinson this week, “especially when they raise their taxes and everything we have to show it is a pile of dirt.”

The design process started in 2017 with public consultations after next year. A proposed vision for a new, enhanced Baycrest Park was presented to residents who have been using the space for decades to walk and relax, as well as shortcuts to the nearby Yorkdale and Baycrest Arena metro station.

According to the city’s website, this vision includes new pedestrian paths, baseball diamond lighting, splashpad, toilets, shaded reading area for reading, flower gardens – even a fire pit.

By the beginning of 2023, the Baycrest Park was closed to the public and started working on the $ 8 million project, with construction expected to take a little over a year.

Then things started to go away.

Leslie Skiors, who has lived next to the park for more than 40 years, says that the partially finished park “looks like Siberia”, now that the trees are removed. (Mike Mind/CBC)

The contractor, Locpave Construction, came across an unexpected rainwater outflow, according to the city website and problems with the construction of a new path from the park to the Yorkdale station.

The work stopped completely in the fall of 2023 – with cut trees, building materials, strewn and mounds from excavated land left on the base.

Until December 2024, the city “terminated the contract with the seller due to stopping work and lack of progress,” said Prappan Dave, director of capital projects for the city, in an email to CBC Toronto on Wednesday.

Locpave has not yet responded to requests to respond to the city’s statement.

The lighting poles lie in the snow of the baseball field in Bacres Park. City employees say they expect Diamond to be open to spring and The Pathway to Yorkdale Subway Station open to the fall. (Mike Mind/CBC)

The city expects things to go back within a few weeks when the staff assigns a new construction contract for the project, Dave said. He also says that two contractual contracts have already been awarded, which should allow the baseball diamond to open this spring and the road to Yorkdale station until the fall.

So far, the park remains in disarray, enclosed by the public.

Colossal Park Park: Resident

Leslie Skiors, who has lived next to the park for more than 40 years, says she has been fed by delays.

“It’s unusable,” she said. “Sometimes you look there and looks like Siberia. It’s brutal … From the beginning it’s a colossal mess.”

Levinson says he lacks the evening walks that he and his family have taken, as well as the easy access to the subway. The walk in the park took five minutes from his house, he says, but now, it’s more like 20.

Mike Pole, the city’s city advisor, said his office postponed calls from Angry residents for months.

Coun. Mike Pole, who represents the neighborhood, says his hands are tied when it comes to speeding up the park, but he predicts that he can open by the end of the year. (Sue Goodspeed/CBC)

“We need this park,” Colle told CBC Toronto. “I am proud of the plan, but damn disappointed that we were unable to complete the plan.”

Colle says his hands are tied.

“I’m as disappointed as the inhabitants,” he said. “This is something that will be beneficial to the community for years to come.”

Colle said that the park expects the park to be completed by the end of this year, but the city’s employees did not make promises earlier this week.

“Once a supplier is selected and the work begins, the city will be able to provide a project date,” Dave said in his email.