Victoria_Park_Re port Final.pdf - City of Charlottetown

VICTORIA PARK COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN
Final Report • June 2013
High Park
Designed by the Olmstead Brothers in 1836, the park has seen over 175 years of change.
Like Victoria Park, the Eastern Promenade has coped with changing demands and uses
over time. While the original form has been slightly lost beneath the newer functions,
the park manages to successfully contain a range of potentially conflicting uses. Since
its inception, sheep fields have been converted to ball fields, carriage paths have been
converted to roads, and about a quarter of the original park has been lost to a water
treatment facility. Because the park has managed to stay current, adopting its form to
changing needs, it remains one of the most successful and well-loved parks in the city.
However, like Victoria Park, the Eastern Promenade also suffers from a disjointed use of
spaces, and poor wayfinding. A master plan written for the park in 2004 recommended
improved signage, upgraded utility services, vegetation management strategy, better
organized pedestrian routes, and the decommissioning of some underused ball fields.
The changes were primarily geared toward reconnecting and reorganizing similar zones,
and reinvigorating the infrastructural management.
High Park in Toronto is a 400-acre park established in the same decade as Victoria
Park. The park is mixed use, with passive wooded natural areas, walking trails,
and athletic areas. High Park is surrounded on three sides by residential areas, and
bounded on the fourth by a highway. The park contains numerous passive and active
recreational opportunities and is also home to historic buildings, monuments, and
gardens. One third of the park remains in a natural state and is a focal point for
educational opportunities.
The park was opened to the public in 1876 and due to its prominence in the
neighbourhood has always had a positive relationship with its citizens. The park has a
unique community-based governance model and maintains autonomy over many of
its own internal budgeting and decision-making processes. Though High Park remains
under the direct management of the City of Toronto Parks and Recreation Department,
many of its inherent features, including the zoo, the children’s garden, the lodge, and
the nature centre are overseen by a community-based organization. This system
allows the park to be more responsive to the needs and concerns of its user groups
and fosters a sense of ownership within the community. This system also allows for
greater flexibility and internal oversight of its finances, programs, and maintenance;
making the park directly accountable to its users. Self-governance is a strategy
uniquely suited for parks that maintain prominent positions in the community.
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