Lake Ontario Park Plan and the Spadina WaveDeck win prestigious awards from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects

Toronto, March 2, 2009 – Waterfront Toronto’s Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park and Spadina WaveDeck have received two National Awards from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA). The Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park was awarded the CSLA’s highest prize, a National Honour Award and the Spadina WaveDeck earned a National Merit Award.

The CSLA Professional Awards Programme recognizes and promotes excellence in all aspects of landscape design. This year’s competition included 56 projects in seven categories.

“It is a special honour to have not one – but two – of our projects recognized by the CSLA this year,” said John Campbell, Waterfront Toronto President and CEO. “The Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park and the Spadina WaveDeck are both stunning examples of how excellence in design can be completely transformative.”

Designed by award-winning landscape architecture firm Field Operations, the Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park presents a bold vision for transforming 375 hectares of Toronto’s waterfront into an urban wilderness and recreational park. The proposed park assembles a series of underutilized industrial sites, existing parks and regionally significant ecological areas into one of the most significant and exciting open space urban projects in our country’s history.

The Spadina WaveDeck opened in September 2008 and is the first in a series of spectacular new public spaces being built along Toronto’s waterfront. Designed by West 8 of Rotterdam and Toronto’s du Toit Allsopp Hillier, the new wavedeck is a gateway to the lakefront at a site that previously lacked public access. Later this summer, wavedecks will open at Rees and Simcoe Streets.

The Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

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For background information on the Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park and the Spadina WaveDeck, please visit www.waterfrontoronto.ca.

Media Contact – Samantha Gileno, Waterfront Toronto