Let’s Grow Allan Gardens
It’s time to double the size of the Allan Gardens greenhouse conservatory and create a world-class botanical garden in the word’s most diverse city.
Growing Allan Gardens
A magnet for community, and a place to celebrate our collective relationship with plants, the Friends of Allan Gardens and community partners discuss what it mean to be a 21st century horticultural garden in Canada’s largest city.
Chapter 1: A Park for the 21st Century
From a conservatory expansion, to a recentring of the park’s civic life in the heart of Toronto, exciting things are on the horizon for Allan Gardens!
Chapter 2: A Place to Gather
From a farmers’ market to arts and cultural events, Allan Gardens is alive with energy, community, and possibility. It’s a true gathering place in downtown Toronto.
Chapter 3: A Garden for Everyone
From honouring cultural plants and the stories they carry, to celebrating the rich and diverse ecosystems of Canada, see how we’re reimagining our collective relationships with plants!
Capital Initiatives
Expand the historic greenhouse conservatory.
The proposed expansion has been called the Greenhouse Link Building as it would link together the currently disconnected ends of the greenhouses. This expansion would increase exhibition and programming space and unlock the 21st-century potential of horticulture in the city.
Reinvest in the walkways through Allan Gardens.
As we aim to improve the pedestrian experience of the park, we imagine a central path or allée linking Homewood and Pembroke streets, enlivening the Gardens and setting a standard for future path improvements.
Reinvest in the dog park.
Allan Gardens has the potential to have a fantastic dog off-leash area, but recently the quality of that space has been diminished. A better designed dog park is essential for the vibrancy of the community.
Cultural Initiatives
Enhance (horti)cultural programming.
The Friends of Allan Gardens offers many activities in the park including gardening, plant sales, family drop-in programs, and musical performances. We want to facilitate more of these types of activities and expand what we do to include things like food vending, horticulture shows, and more educational programs.
Support Indigenous cultural programming.
Allan Gardens is a sacred landscape for many Nations. In the spirit of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty, we commit to work with local Indigenous organizations on a variety of projects related to language-keeping, place-keeping, and ceremony. This is just the start of exploring, developing, and building positive relationships.
Read the full document to learn more.
Do you have feedback on Growing with the City? We’d love to hear from you!
Please note you will be sent to Google Forms to take the survey.
Resources
The following documents serve as context and background material for Growing with the City. Documents were produced by the City of Toronto, the Friends of Allan Gardens, or one of our many community partners.
