Downsview Park - Toronto

Downsview Park is a 572 acre park in north Toronto that opened in 1999. It was the former home of the Canadian Forces Base. The park sees 1.5M visitors a year and is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in Canada.

The park is popular with sports enthusiasts as there are facilities for soccer, basketball, skateboarding, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, football, squash and tennis. A small forest has been planted with 60K young trees

Development

The plans for the park have been slow to realize as funding has created various delays. Plans for 5 residential communities within the park was approved in 2010.

A new TTC subway station is being planned for the north end of the park

Attractions

• Greenhouse
• Downsview Park Merchants Market
• Downsview Park Sports Centre
• Toronto Aerospace Musuem
• Hangar Grill Restaurant

Events

• 3 on 3 street hockey tournament
• Earth Day Festival
• Canada Day celebrations
• Movies under the lights
• Fall fairs
• Heritage walk
• Beer and cocktail show
• Jamaica Day

Timeline

• 1994 - Closure of CFB Toronto and dedication of area to a parklaand
• 1999 - Park begins operations
• 2000 - International design competition for park
• 2002 - World Youth Day, Pope John Paul celebrates mass with 870K people
• 2003 - Rolling Stones and AC/DC benefit concert for SARS

Directions

• TTC subway to Downsview Station
• 401 to Allen Road north