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The Urbanist
Tall Stories 477: Biidaasige Park – how Toronto combines green space and flood protection
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Mixed use developments are a common way of getting more out of new urban projects. But how can a park combine its purpose to help provide more than just green space? In Toronto, the largest new park opening in a generation is showing how it can help prevent flooding while also providing recreational space for residents and visitors. You're listening to Tall Stories, a Monocle production brought to you by the team behind the Urbanist. I'm Andrew Tuck. In this episode, Mandy Sinclair takes us to one of Toronto's newest and most impactful public parks.
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It was a sunny summer day when I popped by the newly opened Bidasage park, the newest park to open in Toronto as part of the Port Lands Flood Protection project. And at 50 acres with 10 more to come, this is the largest city park to open in a generation on lands that were once home to industrial wasteland and contaminated waters. Now, for the first time in over a century, here at Bidasage park, both indigenous and settlers can fish, get out onto the water and wander along pathways lined with native plants that support wildlife year round with food, food, shelter and nesting opportunities. Children's play areas were abuzz with children climbing play structures of larger than life local wildlife, including the snowy owl, beavers and raccoons representing Anishinaabe, Angwa, Honwe and Hiranodams, but also animals that have been spotted in the newly created park. There's an option to grill up some food at the Raccoon picnic terrace, an ironic name really, given the city's abundant and pesky raccoon populations. Quiet spaces throughout provided a perch for bird watching. American goldfinch and other songbirds, waterfowl and water birds like the Great egret foraging in the New river valley. I passed one of the city's younger residents fishing with his scooter nearby. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority monitors the newly created wetlands here and has already found that largemouth bass, northern pike and walleye are enjoying the New River. A few slips allow for launching a canoe or kayak for for a paddle through the marshy wetlands with downtown skyline views. With the park located just east of the city's downtown core, the Financial District's office towers and the soaring CN Tower are seemingly within reach. Overhead, passenger airplanes prepare for landing at the nearby Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. As the name Bidasage park indicates, this is a place of recreation, but it's also a place of reconciliation. For thousands of years prior to European arrival, the parklands, the Don river and Lake Ontario were important areas for indigenous communities who came here to hunt and fish, grow food and Gather medicinal plants, heal and celebrate on the shores of the Don river as it flowed into Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes. This area was also home to Ashbridge's Bay Marsh, one of the largest freshwater marshes on Lake Ontario. But throughout the 1800s, with an increasing population, pollution and sewage made its way into the river. As industrialization grew, mills along the banks blocked fish passage and the marsh's rich aquatic ecosystem eventually degraded. Then in the 1900s, the area was paved to make way for industrial areas, coal and salt yards, cement and lumber terminals, refineries, scrap yards and even larger facilities, including generation stations. With these changes, the area became flood prone. Constant sediment buildup required dredging. There was widespread contamination from industry and sewage and the loss of the marsh's natural fish and wildlife habitat. But in the 1980s, a citizen led task force with the goal of healing the Don river and a vision for its revival gained momentum with the launch of the Bring Back the Dawn campaign. Efforts evolved into decades long collaborations between waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to advance critical initiatives and studies needed to transform the lands. But moving the mouth of the river wasn't an easy feat. The process involved building cut off walls around the river valley by drilling overlapping holes into the bedrock, filling them with concrete and reinforcing some of them with steel beams. This was done to keep the water out during construction. With the walls in place, crews then excavated inside, digging as deep as 7 to 8 meters to remove contaminated and unstable soil in preparation of the new river. They then installed a liner at the bottom of the excavation with drains and pipes underneath to manage groundwater and keep the site dry. On top of this liner, the base of the new river was built, including the riverbed, clay cores for stability and the riverbanks. Once complete, the river will be about 2 to 3 meters deep. But now, having spent nearly two decades on the project, an investment from federal, provincial and municipal governments to the tune of $1.5 billion. The mouth of the river has been moved and is lined with sweeping green spaces that protect 174 acres of land in the city's Portlands. And the park opened on July 19 on the city's newest island, Uquiman Mannizing. With flood protection nearing completion, development will begin on new places to live, work and play. The name Bida Sage means sunlight shining towards us in Anishinaabe, Moen and Ojibwemowin and represents a desire to move toward renewal and environmental stewardship. The name was selected by an indigenous advisory circle made up of elders, knowledge keepers, and community members. In 2026, the Lassonde Art Trail will launch, but already at the water's edge, artist Carolyn Monet's trage is already installed. Footprints left behind by indigenous ancestors on Lake Ontario and uncovered in blue clay in 1908 are cast in bronze. And while it may be impossible to return the site to its original form, it serves as a reminder of those who have come before us.
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Tall Stories is a Monocle production from the team behind the Urbanist. This episode was written by Mandy Sinclair and produced and edited by David Stevens. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. Receive new episodes every week. I'm Andrew Tuck. Goodbye and thank you for listening. City Lovers.