Established in 1876 and officially opened in 1892, Victoria Park is an important downtown core park space within a rapidly evolving residential neighbourhood.

Nestled between Mack St. and Brock St. to the north and south, and Alfred and Albert St. to the east and west, Victoria Park has served as an active recreational area with amenities and activities including a baseball diamond, a tennis court, an outdoor rink, a wading pool, play equipment, and park facility structures. An opportunity was created to rejuvenate this beloved park and implement an innovative vision for the park that reflects the sustainable values of the City and the needs of the surrounding community.

The revitalized Victoria Park celebrates the role of water in public spaces by providing a range of memorable experiences for people of all ages to engage with water in new and exciting ways, with active spray heads, a long drainage channel that traverses the park, a water conservation garden/bioswale, a demonstration garden, and a Corten steel pedestrian bridge over a rivulet, etched with the names of native plant species. The new design also includes a seating wall, new park benches, a central gathering area, over 120 new tree plantings, and accessible connections to the existing play area with new pathway lighting. Custom limestone blocks enable children to hop throughout the landscape or sit in a setting not commonly found in our urban spaces.

Given its importance to the City and surrounding community, Victoria Park was designed to provide a beautiful, sustainable, and people-oriented public green space that promotes both the health of the community and the health of the natural environment. The project was supported financially in part by TD Common Ground project, a commitment by TD Bank to invest in more than 150 green spaces for Canada’s 150th birthday.