Expansion News

Dynamic duo presents inclusive vision for TBG’s future By Lorraine Hunter

People have changed the way they use outdoor spaces over the past year and this will be a major factor in the design for the TBG’s expansion into Edwards Gardens. The pandemic has influenced the use of public parks and gardens, say the principals of PMA Landscape Architects, the firm chosen to lead the project.

Fung Lee and Leslie Morton are currently researching and incorporating the visions of various stakeholders including the TBG Board, staff, members, volunteers and donors, along with their own views to make it truly a unique, Torontocentric botanical garden.

“We know it will attract people from a broader region beyond the TBG, but more importantly, it must generate repeat business from the local community,” says Lee. “It needs to be inclusive for everybody to explore and celebrate Toronto.”

Both women stressed the need for a design that integrates an holistic approach without over designing everything. Flexibility will be key.

“People use parks for the day, not just for a single use like to play a game of tennis. Our public spaces are especially valued with the growing density of Toronto. Outdoor spaces are sought out,” emphasized Morton.

“Public ownership of the parks is even more pronounced with the growth of groups like Parks People and Evergreen Brickworks,” said Lee. “We need to make it so that everyone can be in the garden but they can find their own private space within it.”

And, especially important: “We want to affirm the TBG as the only publicly accessible botanical garden in Canada,” said Morton. Flexibility will be key. People use public gardens and parks later in the fall and earlier in the spring, she added. “They have become critical to our existence. Gardens are therapeutic, providing exposure to nature and sunlight. Biophilia—affinity with the natural world—is so important.”

To incorporate all of this PMA has put together “a bucket of consultants” who make up specific sub-teams

to cover everything from the land’s Indigenous and farming heritage to appropriate plantings to the arts, the city’s growing and diverse population, way finding, story telling, food services, lighting and more.

PMA headed the TBG’s revitalization project in 2005 and participated in the original 2014 proposal to expand the garden. Lee and Morton are “thrilled” to be heading the expansion. “The TBG has a special place in our hearts,” says Lee.

Other PMA projects include St. James and Ramsden parks downtown, Colonel Sam Smith Skating Trail in Etobicoke, and a sculpture walk through the grounds of McMichael Gallery, in Kleinberg, incorporating art into the larger landscape.

The pair foresees partnering with other organizations to produce revenuegenerating programming and events. “They draw people,” said Morton. “We have seen this happen at other botanical gardens such as New York where tickets sell out for public art events.”

The garden expansion will be done in stages and the garden will stay open during construction. “We hope to start Phase One in the spring of 2022 and that it will be completed by late spring 2023,” said Morton.

The PMA team that will be working on the TBG expansion includes, from left: Alica Meza, Project Coordinator & Landscape Designer; Myles Mackenzie, Project Landscape Architect; and Principals Fung Lee and Leslie Morton.