Toronto Today: Toronto organization launches petition to expand Allan Gardens
Photo by: Emma Johnston Wheeler
A Toronto organization wants to expand the Allan Gardens conservatory to almost twice its current size — a plan that it says has been stalled for decades.
Friends of Allan Gardens, the volunteer organization that stewards the park, has drafted ambitious designs for five new greenhouses totalling 16,000 square feet, which includes plans to grow plants from other Canadian regions such as the Arctic. The group says the city is on board, but the price tag is steep — and it's going to take provincial and federal support to get the project off the ground.
Friends of Allan Gardens executive director Matt Canaran said the group is still finalizing the budget, but expansion has always been part of the park’s revitalization plan. Now that other priority items are complete, including restoration of Allan Gardens' historic Palm House, he said it’s time to take the next step.
The conservatory experienced continuous growth from when it was first built in the 1860s until the 1950s when new greenhouses were added, but “then it stalled,” said Canaran. He said a master plan was created in the 1980s that included additional greenhouses in the service yard and parking lot, but those plans seemed to have been forgotten by the city.
Similar designs were resurrected by Friends of Allan Gardens in a 2023 report, which outlined how the conservatory could be expanded without reducing the park’s green space.
“We've come back to remind people this was always the goal. Allan Gardens was always supposed to grow as the city was growing and we have the potential now to do it again,” he said.
Currently, Friends of Allan Gardens is seeking 10,000 signatures for a petition which calls on all levels of government to contribute funding toward the expansion project. A week after its Jan. 25 launch, it had over 3,300 signatures.
The petition also urges members of the public and government officials to consider how more greenhouse space could benefit Toronto, by allowing for more cultural and educational programming and providing more climate-resilient infrastructure in the city’s downtown core.
Friends of Allan Gardens has already begun working with Zeidler Architects, Janet Rosenberg Studios, and ERA Architects on designs for the new greenhouses, which were shared with Mayor Olivia Chow during a volunteer appreciation event on Jan. 25. Canaran said the mayor was enthusiastic about the plans, and in response “challenged” him to launch a petition.
Once funding is secured for the expansion, Canaran said the next steps are to cement detailed environmental and structural designs, pursue city approvals and confirm construction agreements. He expects this process to take a couple of years, but said the faster things are approved, the faster they can start building — and his most ambitious hope is to have “shovels in the ground in 2028.”
Seeking community input
Canaran said he also hopes the petition will get Allan Gardens on the radar of more Torontonians. He said on top of horticulture workshops and a year-round farmers' market, many local residents are still unaware of the cultural programming happening at the conservatory. These include children's and family events, concerts, art installations, theatre and dance productions, DJ sets and film screenings.
He hopes the petition will encourage new visitors to get involved.
“Our whole philosophy is we're here to serve. We're here for everyone in this community,” said Canaran. “We will work with you, we will listen to what you want and as we invest in this park, we will lift all of us up together. That’s our goal.”
Friends of Allan Gardens has set up a community engagement table at its Saturday farmers' market to ask locals what they want to see in the conservatory’s new spaces, including what plant communities they wish to see represented.
Canaran said the suggestion he has heard the most is for growing plants from the Arctic region.
Local Inuit community members recently provided Friends of Allan Gardens with Arctic cotton seeds that Canaran said will be planted this spring. If they can survive he hopes to harvest the plants and return them to the local Inuit community so they can use them in ceremony or cultural practices.
With the expansion, Canaran said Allan Gardens could have dedicated green house space for these plants and others from different Canadian ecosystems. “Every community will have their own set of plants that means something to them,” he said.