Riverdale Park (Toronto)

Riverdale Park is a large park spanning the Lower Don River, Toronto, Ontario, Canada between Cabbagetown to the west and Broadview Avenue in Riverdale to the east. Recreational fields for soccer, baseball, and Ultimate are available on both sides of the river with a swimming pool, tennis courts and outdoor hockey rink to the northeast, as well as a running track in the centre. A footbridge crossing the Don Valley Parkway, Bayview Avenue, railroad tracks, and the river connects the two sides of the valley to each other and to a north-south bicycle trail that follows the river. The bridge is located near the site of Eli Playter's butternut tree bridge that provided access to his property in mill around 1790s. The bridge was depicted by Elizabeth Simcoe's watercolour painting "Playter's Bridge near York, ca. 1796".

At the south-east corner is Bridgepoint Hospital and a monument to Sun Yat-Sen. Immediately to the west of the park in Cabbagetown is Riverdale Farm a city operated, publicly accessible farm.

The land on the east side of the Don River was originally owned by John Scadding, one of the early settlers to Toronto and the estate manager and clerk for John Graves Simcoe, Governor of Upper Canada. John Scadding's cabin, built in 1840 just south of the present day park, is now located on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition.

The eastern side of the park was also used as a landfill in the 1920's. A walk along Broadview Avenue shows the evidence of this in the form of green exhaust pipes to vent the methane gas from the former dump beneath the park. [Planted along the Broadview Avenue edge of Riverdale Park are 20-odd numbered green posts. What are they? Urban Decoder. June 1, 2005. [http://www.torontolife.com/urban_decoder/2005/jun/01/planted-along-the-br/] ]

In 1990, a grassy slope on the eastern side was planted with trees. This was the first public event hosted by the Task Force to Bring Back the Don. The slope is now moderately forested with trees averaging 3-4 metres in height. In 2002, Bring Back the Don created a small marsh at the bottom of the slope. Water collects there from the slope as well as from adjacent playing fields. Other restoration projects include trees planted along a berm adjacent to the Don Valley Parkway.

Today there is a major city highway (DVP, Don Valley Parkway) running through the park, beside the river. Trails have been built along the highway for joggers and cyclists to enjoy.

References

ee also

* Riverdale, Toronto
* Toronto—Danforth
* Toronto Centre

External links

* [http://www.toronto.ca/don/riverdale_park.htm Bring Back the Don restoration projects in the park]
* [http://www.lostrivers.ca/points/rvdlpjts.htm Lost Rivers page on restoration efforts]