Category Archives: Raymore Park

Raymore Park: changes over the years – Part 1.

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This year marks 30 years since I started coming to Raymore Park. During that time many changes have occurred, most of them reflecting adjustments in park philosophy and management.

1. Pesticides:

Herbicides were sprayed here – just north of the current off-leash area. October 2000.

Back in 1993, park staff would spray grassy areas with herbicide in order to keep weeds down and in particular, poison ivy. They used Roundup (Glyphosate) which is pretty potent. Caution notices were placed on the grass informing people that weedkiller had been sprayed but these didn’t last long. At that time, much more of the park was grass (more on that in another article). Despite the claims of Monsanto, Roundup when sprayed over such a wide area is probably terrible for wildlife and dogs. The City banned pesticides in theory in late 1998 but the practice continued for a while after that according to this article from 2000.

2. The Humber Footbridge.

The 1917 ‘swing’ footbridge that was condemned and replaced in 1950. Photo via Weston Historical Society.

When Hurricane Hazel struck in 1954, a four-year-old footbridge over the Humber was swept away. This link between Westmount and the stores in Weston wasn’t replaced until 1995 some 41 years later. The bridge gets a substantial amount of use from cyclists, sightseers and commuters who can be whisked to the airport or downtown in about 15 minutes via the UP Express on Weston Road.

Read this excellent article on the three Weston footbridges from the Weston Historical Society.

The bridge with an abutment of the 1950 version in the foreground; looking upstream in March 2009.

3. Garbage Containers.

Garbage containers were either lined wire-mesh bins or the occasional re-purposed oil drum back in the 20th Century. There were no recycling containers back then – just open-topped receptacles that went uncollected during the winter. The cans and baskets weren’t replaced with the current wheeled carts until 2012.

Even with our clearly marked carts, park users are fairly indiscriminate where they toss their waste, so the recycling bins become contaminated and their contents worthless. As a result, garbage and recycling are collected by the same truck and the contents lumped in altogether.

From February 2004.

Billions of trees!

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Trees are great at cleaning the air and capturing carbon. They also moderate the extremes of weather and keep wind speeds down year-round. They also smooth out temperatures, keeping them lower in summer and higher in winter. Recognizing this, Prime Minister Trudeau promised that Canada would plant 2 billion trees by 2030. This was during the 2019 election campaign and we all know the value of campaign promises.

From Democrat and Chronicle.

The idea for a mass tree planting may have come from New Zealand and Australia which had announced similar ambitious goals in 2018 and 2019. The U.S. is also promising to plant 4.1 billion trees in the same timeline as Canada. All told, Canada has around 318 billion trees so adding two billion to the total won’t be a big increase. In fact it won’t even replace the trees that will be cut down by then. Even so, two billion has a nice ring to it.

Presumably the Liberals thought they would be safely out of office by 2030 and wouldn’t have to worry about actually achieving the target. According to lots of news outlets, the number of trees planted thus far is pretty dismal. The government says it planted about 29 million trees in 2021. At that rate the two billionth tree will be planted around the year 2092. The job of planting and monitoring the trees has been entrusted to Natural Resources Canada but tellingly, the 2BT initiative isn’t high enough of a priority to make the front page of their website.

Obviously vast tracts of land will need to be planted in order to achieve the two billion target. Even so, Raymore Park stands ready to play its part – there’s lots of room at the park entrance and around the dog off-leash area (both of which could do with some shade in summer).

Looking south towards the dog off-leash area. April 16, 2023.

Whatever we do, let’s make sure we protect any new trees from our local beavers!

UPDATE, June 14, 2023:

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the federal government was never in a position to plant billions of trees as it’s the provinces that do most of the tree planting in Canada. On June 13, 2023, Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco testified at the Commons natural resources committee that, “We found that given the number of trees planted so far, this program is unlikely to succeed unless significant changes are made.”

Auditor Kimberly Leach said that provinces would have to do most of the planting and that Cabinet had not signed up all provinces to do so.

According to Blacklock’s, “The program originally budgeted at $3.16 billion over ten years is now expected to cost $5.94 billion, by Budget Office estimate.”

Are there beavers in Raymore Park?

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The amount of wildlife in Toronto parks is quite amazing and we aren’t always aware of the secret lives of the animals who live alongside us. Yes, beavers are a presence in Raymore Park and although it’s rare to see them, we can often see signs of them.

This young tree is close to the bike path by the footbridge. (April 2023)

One sign is the tell-tale gnawing of tree trunks at about 30-40 cm above the ground – often leaving a stump with a conical point. When the city plants trees in Raymore Park, they have (usually) learned to protect the new trees’ trunks with wire cages or else beavers will make quick (and expensive) work of them. Another sign might be a noisy tail splash – used as a warning to other beavers as you approach the water. Sometimes a cluster of sticks on the riverbank is evidence of a lodge.

Protect it or else… (July 2018)

Beavers need to eat wood as part of their diet and since their rodent teeth are constantly growing, gnawing on wood helps keep them in trim. Beavers restrict the flow of rivers and therefore mitigate the impact of flooding. Other wildlife benefit from the presence of these native animals. Eurasian beavers (slightly different to our North American variety) were hunted to extinction in the U.K. a few centuries ago but have been re-introduced in several locations throughout the British Isles and particularly in Scotland.

A fallen branch suspended at the right height is being consumed by beavers. (April 2023).

Where can beavers be seen in Raymore Park? One place seems to be fairly constant from year to year. There is an island just above the weir where they often hang out as it’s relatively safe from disturbance from humans and especially dogs. The Humber is quite wide so rather than dam the river, beavers will create a riverbank lodge that accommodates several animals.

A beaver swimming upstream by the island in May 2013.

Be patient as beavers are shy and usually hide when humans are present. If a dog is swimming in the river, a beaver might attack (they have the advantage in the water) so it’s wise to follow park leash rules.

A pair of ducks across from the clearly visible beaver island lodge. (April 2023).
‘Beaver Island lodge’ in summer (on the far bank). (August 2018) (click to enlarge)

A bench above the dam can be a good observation spot. Early mornings and late evenings are the best times for catching a glimpse of these mainly nocturnal creatures.

A costly lesson in neighbouring Lions Park. This tree was planted just a few years ago. (April 2023)

Lastly, a piece of beaver trivia – the minster town of Beverley in Yorkshire, England – which gave its name to Beverley Massachusetts and subsequently Beverley Hills in California – was named because of the beavers once living there. The town’s coat of arms proudly sports a Eurasian beaver.

Beverly Town Council coat of arms (from Wikipedia).

Spring Runoff

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Temperatures hit the mid-teens today and with yesterday’s rain adding to melting snow coming from further north, the Humber river is running high. A good benchmark is the old footbridge abutment and today it was almost underwater. Adding to the drama, logs and dead trees were cascading down the river – probably after being blown over during this winter’s storms, having waited for a good flood to float them and flush them down to Lake Ontario.

The abutment can just be seen slightly to the right of centre behind the farthest log. Click to enlarge.

The Condo building called ‘The Humber’ is almost ready for occupancy and residents facing the river will soon have a ringside seat for the ever-changing river landscape as it makes a 90° turn in front of the building.

A few hundred metres downriver at the weir, some large trees were stuck as they lumbered over the edge. The roar of the river by the weir is quite something. People were standing mesmerized, soaking up the vibrations.

A couple witness the power of the river with their dogs. Click to enlarge.
Two people watch from the Mount Dennis side as trees get stuck on the weir’s edge. Click to enlarge.

Water levels should go down tomorrow during a one-day temperature dip but inevitably, spring is pushing its way north.

No doubt we’ll be complaining about the heat soon.

The ever growing Condo

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The site at 1746 Weston Road and Wilby is going to be redeveloped. The current occupant is the Starfish Caribbean Market which has operated there for many years. A developer, imaginatively called A1 Development has proposed placing a condo on the site.

A year ago, the developer proposed a 25-storey building with 253 units that would, they claimed, …”fit harmoniously within the existing context of tall buildings along the Weston Road corridor in Toronto”. In reality all of the area’s buildings have several fewer than 25 storeys but never mind. A1 used an architect who created a quite nice design with a nod to art-deco curves.

From urbantoronto.ca

This month, A1 announced a redesign of the building and has goosed the floor count up to 40 storeys. As for context (and harmony), Hickory Tower will be more than double the height of most high rise buildings in the neighbourhood and will squeeze in an extra 193 apartments for a total of 446 units. The art-deco design has been dumped for a more angular utilitarian look. No details have emerged about the size of the apartments but I wouldn’t expect generosity or an appropriate range of bedrooms.

The 40-storey update – not so art-deco. From urbantoronto.ca

What kind of an impact will about 950 new residents have on the area? Well for starters, there will only be 113 underground parking spaces with a less than generous 25 spaces for visitors. No doubt the residential side-streets will be flooded with parked cars. Despite the neighbourhood being well served by transit and the U.P Express / GO service, it’s not that walkable for groceries. There will be some retail on the ground floor but the developer will provide no customer parking. On the plus side, 447 bicycle spaces will be provided but cycling is still an unrealistic option in Toronto’s climate and disconnected bicycle network. Raymore Park will obviously be affected and a large increase in foot and bicycle traffic can be anticipated. The adjacent 232 condos at 10 Wilby will be occupied starting in spring of this year. Incidentally, there are 150 parking spots in that building.

How will the city view this latest iteration? Based on the sheer scale it will stick out like a sore thumb and based on the number of units, seems to be aiming at maximum possible profit. Generally, condos should allow spaces in bedrooms for children to study and the trend these days is for buildings to have fewer studio apartments while increasing numbers of two and three-bedroom suites. As for amenities, the area is not well served having been neglected for decades. Toronto’s planning department should reject it out of hand.

Read the urbantoronto.ca article here.

Metrolinx wants to devastate nearby park.

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Metrolinx loves clearcutting. Their zeal in removing vegetation along rail corridors and ravines is well documented. They also want to chop down several century-old trees downtown on the Osgoode Hall grounds in spite of huge objections and seemingly better alternatives. Apparently Metrolinx knows better than the little people. This is the organization that is two years late in finishing the Eglinton Crosstown Line. Not only that but Metrolinx cannot provide an estimate of when the line will finally open – after more than eleven years of continuing disruption. Closer to home, Metrolinx is up to no good again and this time, they wish to clear-cut a large section of Fergy Brown and Emmet Parks and Ukrainian Canadian Memorial Park (adjoining Raymore Park).

The issue is that the Eglinton Line West Extension to Pearson Airport will be above ground and will parallel Eglinton Avenue and cross the Humber using a 1.5 km elevated track. Vegetation beneath the track will be cut back to avoid shorting out the high-voltage overhead cables that provide the power. Unlike the rest of the line, Metrolinx claims that this section has to be built above ground because they say it’s too expensive to go underground and under the Humber. Instead, an elevated LRT expressway-style bridge will be twinned with the existing road bridge and the precious parkland beneath and its wildlife will be razed. Parkland is far too precious to be destroyed in this manner and future generations will wonder about the barbarians who could do this to our diminishing wildlife and precious tree canopy.

The location of the proposed 1.5 km overhead rail line that will run north of and parallel to Eglinton. From Google maps. Click to enlarge.

Stop the Trains in our Parks is a group of concerned citizens who are fighting this proposal and will be demonstrating outside local MPP Mike Ford‘s office at 1832 Weston Road (350m south of Lawrence) on Thursday, December 15th at 2:00 p.m. They invite all who are concerned about the devastation this line will cause to our local parks to lend support through their presence and/or contacting Mr. Ford.

For more information contact STOP at mailto:stopthetrainsinourparks@gmail.com

Humber Creek Culvert Update

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I am slightly more nimble now and was able to clamber down to the riverbed to take these shots. Water levels are quite low thanks to a lack of rain this summer. Despite that, the newly planted trees are thriving so someone has been keeping them watered.

Looking west under the Humber Trail and Scarlett Road. Click to enlarge.

The culvert seems very sturdy and looks way better than the previous galvanized edition. It should be good for a hundred years or more.

A pair of cyclists ride over the culvert on the Humber Trail. Click to enlarge.

Because of the culvert’s construction, the Humber Trail has been blocked for a year resulting in a huge drop in cyclists and walkers but should open next week along with the two closed lanes of Scarlett Road.

Raymore Park clean-up this Sunday.

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On Sunday April 24, there will be a park clean-up organized by Brian MacLean who is also leading a campaign to set up a permanent memorial to the Hurricane Hazel victims, many of whom perished in a community now occupied by Raymore Park.

Please meet by the pedestrian bridge across the Humber between Raymore and Lions parks at 10:00 a.m. Note – the Raymore parking lot is closed to traffic. There is street parking on Tilden Crescent or the Lions Park lot is open – it’s a short walk from there to the footbridge that crosses into Raymore.

Area Map – from Google. Click to enlarge.

For more information contact Brian MacLean at EtobicokeCommunityFutures@gmail.com

‘The Humber’ condos take shape by Raymore Park

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This building under construction at 10 Wilby Crescent on the eastern side of the Humber is by Options For Homes and is expected to be ready for occupancy by next year. Residents on the south-west side will have views looking down the Humber Valley and a rooftop patio is planned for the seventh floor which is on the right where the tower rises above the podium. There is a promise of direct access from the building to the Pan Am Trail leading to Lake Ontario or points north.

The Humber under construction today at 10 Wilby Crescent.

Here’s OFH’s YouTube video on the area’s natural surroundings with Raymore Park in a starring role.

Currently the river is almost completely covered by ice which is thickening rapidly in this frigid weather. There should be some spectacular ice floes when the weather turns milder but no sign of that in the next two weeks at least.

The path has now been plowed down to the dam as part of the Park Path Project.

A crisp day and a plowed path to walk on in Raymore Park.