Growing with the City
An Ecosystem of Initiatives for Allan Gardens
Growing with the City is a Friends of Allan Garden’s initiative to cultivate continued engagement, fundraising, and stewardship in the development of cultural and capital projects in Allan Gardens.
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.
