Blogto.com recently heralded the opening of the north side of Sherbourne Common Park:

Although the lakefront side of Sherbourne Common Park has been open since last September, the public finally got a chance to explore the northern end of the 1.5 hectare recreational space yesterday. Separated by Queen’s Quay, the north section is the smaller of the two — at roughly half the size of its southern counterpart — but in many ways it’s equally impressive.

With less greenery than the area to the south, it’s interesting to note the degree to which the design of urban parks have changed over the years. In the past, park design seemed to consist mostly of laying down a patch of grass, a few benches and a playground area. Sherbourne Common, on the other hand, features only 0.4 hectares of lawn-space, the vast majority of which is located to the south of Queen’s Quay.

In its place are materials like rubber surfacing (which is a joy to walk on), crushed rolled granite, and IPE decking. Even the playground equipment appears more sophisticated in design than what one used to find installed at City parks. The only concern I had while touring the space yesterday was that the gravel areas might ultimately prove a pain when high use spreads the stones across other areas of the park, but regular maintenance should take care of that.

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