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Downsview Park
Downsview Park is a large urban park located in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park was first home to de Havilland Canada, an aircraft manufacturer, and later was a Canadian Forces base. The park still contains Downsview Airport.
In 1999, the Government of Canada declared it as "Canada's first urban national park". Managed by the Canada Lands Company, a federal crown corporation, the official bilingual naming reflects that its national park status is subject to the Official Languages Act.
Before the establishment of the aircraft plant and airfield the site was farmland that emerged after John Perkins Bull settled nearby in 1842.
The area was first used in 1929 by de Havilland Canada, where it housed the company's Canadian operations. The manufacturing plant was used to make aircraft during World War II. After the war, the Department of National Defence (Canada) needed space to station Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons in the area. In 1947, the federal government acquired and consolidated 270 properties in Downsview surrounding the manufacturing plant.
In April 1997, North York mayor Mel Lastman proposed developing the area into a large entertainment complex. Plans included three hockey arenas, a movie studio, year-round skiing, a whitewater rafting venue, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and a multiplex cinema. Often compared to Canada's Wonderland, it was planned to contribute to Toronto's bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
The developer selected the Reichmann family's Heathmount Arts and Entertainment, and its plan was approved by the North York council in December 1998. Discussions broke down with the federal government, and their unwillingness to sell the land. In April 1999 the Reichmanns announced they would move the plan to Montreal. In June 2000, the developer announced they would also walk away from their plans in Montreal.
In 1999, the federal government announced, to great fanfare, that the park would become "Canada's first urban national park." Downsview Park announced an International Design Competition. In 2000, Bruce Mau and Rem Koolhaas submitted the winning design scheme, known as "Tree City." In the years that followed, little development took place, and the plans fell into dormancy.
Instead of creating a park made up of almost entirely green space as called for in the "Tree City" plan, Parc Downsview Park Inc., the crown corporation then in control of the park, approved constructing commercial and residential developments across the north, east and southwest ends of the park.
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Downsview Park
Downsview Park is a large urban park located in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park was first home to de Havilland Canada, an aircraft manufacturer, and later was a Canadian Forces base. The park still contains Downsview Airport.
In 1999, the Government of Canada declared it as "Canada's first urban national park". Managed by the Canada Lands Company, a federal crown corporation, the official bilingual naming reflects that its national park status is subject to the Official Languages Act.
Before the establishment of the aircraft plant and airfield the site was farmland that emerged after John Perkins Bull settled nearby in 1842.
The area was first used in 1929 by de Havilland Canada, where it housed the company's Canadian operations. The manufacturing plant was used to make aircraft during World War II. After the war, the Department of National Defence (Canada) needed space to station Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons in the area. In 1947, the federal government acquired and consolidated 270 properties in Downsview surrounding the manufacturing plant.
In April 1997, North York mayor Mel Lastman proposed developing the area into a large entertainment complex. Plans included three hockey arenas, a movie studio, year-round skiing, a whitewater rafting venue, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and a multiplex cinema. Often compared to Canada's Wonderland, it was planned to contribute to Toronto's bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
The developer selected the Reichmann family's Heathmount Arts and Entertainment, and its plan was approved by the North York council in December 1998. Discussions broke down with the federal government, and their unwillingness to sell the land. In April 1999 the Reichmanns announced they would move the plan to Montreal. In June 2000, the developer announced they would also walk away from their plans in Montreal.
In 1999, the federal government announced, to great fanfare, that the park would become "Canada's first urban national park." Downsview Park announced an International Design Competition. In 2000, Bruce Mau and Rem Koolhaas submitted the winning design scheme, known as "Tree City." In the years that followed, little development took place, and the plans fell into dormancy.
Instead of creating a park made up of almost entirely green space as called for in the "Tree City" plan, Parc Downsview Park Inc., the crown corporation then in control of the park, approved constructing commercial and residential developments across the north, east and southwest ends of the park.