Raymore Park is under the jurisdiction of a variety of agencies. For example, the Federal government is in charge of how close you can fish to the weir. The provincial government controls other aspects of fishing – don’t ask me how that was decided. The city of Toronto takes care of by-laws concerning usage of the park and parking; the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) manages the watersheds around Toronto. Some park signs are relics of the past while others aren’t that carefully worded. It’s doubtful whether people creating the signs have given much thought to either the appearance or the wording. To announce in large letters the words, ‘Park Closed’ is misleading, not to mention unwelcoming.

The misleading and inauspicious road entrance to the park and a sign that has outlived its specific timeframe.

Somehow, the signmakers couldn’t figure out how to tell people that the park is closed to vehicles during winter and after 9:30pm. Another unstated point, the park is never closed to pedestrians. This is important to mention as Toronto is a city of immigrants and many newcomers need help understanding how parks operate.

A city within a park? Where?

Thousands of dollars worth of city employee time was probably spent coming up with this trite little slogan. No doubt many committees spent hours labouring mightily over the five words. Unfortunately when viewed in context on the sign, people must wonder what it all means – there’s a city in Raymore Park?

It’s not clear who manages this lifebuoy station by the weir but it sure could do with a bit of maintenance.

OK, we get it – it’s an unmitigated shithole. If you survive the pollution, you’ll be shot.

The Feds’ bilingual sign is (helpfully) 25 yards from the weir and faces the river although it never seems to stop anyone (didn’t we go metric?).

Toronto amalgamated in 1998 but this sign is a relic that has stood the test of time.

This dilapidated set of signs faces the parking lot. Another ‘Park Closed’ sign. The yellow one may be a TRCA sign while the blue signs help walkers and cyclists navigate the trails. There was another sign above the ‘caution’ one (outlining park by-laws) but it fell off months ago and has since disappeared.

This plastic City of Toronto sign replaces the beautiful original made from cast metal which was stolen within days of its appearance.

I doubt that much thought has been given to many of the various signs that are scattered throughout the park; especially on the part of the people who order, design and write them. It would be a good idea to coordinate and consolidate signage so that there is a consistency of appearance. In addition, outdated and missing or damaged signs are actually harmful as they imply a lack of order that can encourage anti-social behaviour.