Working Behind the Scenes for Guild Park

Most people experience Guild Park as a beautiful place where they can walk, relax, attend events and discover its remarkable features and stories. Behind the scenes, however, another important activity has been taking place for over a decade.

Friends of Guild Park supporters may never have heard of the Guild Park Resource Group (GPRG), yet this City of Toronto initiative has played an important role in Guild Park's operations and future since 2014.

Because Guild Park combines heritage, public art, natural areas, recreation, community programming and major events, staff from dozens of City departments and divisions meet regularly with community organizations to coordinate park operations, capital projects and long-term plans across the 88-acre site.

Several times each year, City professionals and representatives from Friends of Guild Park, Guild Festival Theatre and the Guildwood Village Community Association meet through the GPRG to discuss projects, operations and improvements affecting the park.

The June GPRG meeting reviewed many initiatives that visitors will notice over the coming months. Here are some highlights:

Park Signage & Wayfinding — "Wayfinding" simply means helping visitors find their way through the park while also discovering its history, public art, trails and natural features. The City is preparing a comprehensive signage and interpretation plan. Once this long-awaited proposal is drafted, community organizations will have an opportunity to review and comment before plans are finalized. Without signs at this Guild Park entrance, see image, visitors can’t tell what’s ahead.

Improved Waterfront Access — Planning continues for a new gravel trail linking the developed area of Guild Park with its unimproved waterfront area. The project is a partnership between Toronto Parks & Recreation and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), which owns the Guild Park property. City staff advised that the new trail will replace the existing "switchback" trail, which they and the TRCA consider difficult to maintain and intend to decommission once the new route is completed. The goal is to provide a safer, more accessible route for pedestrians and cyclists.

During the meeting, Friends of Guild Park suggested that the new link could be further enhanced with well-marked trail entrances, interpretive signage, and resting areas with seating along the route. We also encouraged a trail design that moderates the speed of downhill cyclists while maintaining comfortable and safe access for pedestrians, families using strollers, and visitors with mobility aids.

Mobile Food Vendors — Guild Park has been selected as one of more than 20 Toronto parks participating in a new mobile food vending pilot program beginning this summer. The City-operated pilot will help determine how mobile food services can enhance the visitor experience in city parks.

Other GPRG Updates

• Historic Log Cabin — Planning continues to restore and reopen the long-unused Log Cabin. It will become a seasonal arts studio operated through the City’s Clark Centre for the Arts.

• New Washroom Building — Planning continues for Guild Park's new year-round public washroom facility. The design is expected to incorporate an artifact wall featuring fragments from the Spencer Clark Collection of Historic Architecture. Construction is scheduled to start next year.

• Public Art Conservation — City conservators are testing restoration techniques for the popular Bear sculpture, created on-site in 1979 by Canadian artist E.B. Cox, assisted by Michael Clay, then an artist-in-residence at the Guild.

• City Recreation Programs — Discussions about expanding City recreation programming at Guild Park have been deferred until the next Resource Group meeting, expected after the October municipal election.

These meetings help shape many of the improvements visitors see – and often take for granted – throughout the 88-acre park. Friends of Guild Park will continue working collaboratively with City staff and community partners to ensure that the ideas and perspectives of park users – and best practices drawn from other parks - help guide Guild Park's restoration, revitalization and long-term stewardship.