Amanda Flude and Tanya Bevington of Waterfront Toronto with the ceremonial Great Green Rice Krispie cake. Looking northeast from the footpath from Unwin Ave. at the end of the southern berm. Looking northwest across the playing field toward Downtown. The children's playground at the north end of the facility. The southern berm seen from the junction of the Martin Goodman Trail and the footpath from Unwin Ave.

East Bayfront redevelopment took one step forward last month with the opening of the Cherry Beach playing fields on Unwin Ave. Transit planning, on the other hand, took two steps back with the discovery that seasonal TTC service to the site ended on Labour Day.

The desolate 2 kilometer walk to the high-quality greenspace may explain why the turnout for the Sept. 20 opening was so small. Still, Ward 30 councillor Paula Fletcher, who at early planning stages had been somewhat lukewarm to the proposal, was on hand to comment that it constitutes a valuable addition to the GTA’s inventory of high-quality sport and recreation facilities.

The playing fields on the site will be available for organized and recreational soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, football and extreme frisbee. They comprise one of the early components of Lake Ontario Park, an evolving concept of Waterfront Toronto’s for the Cherry Beach area south of Unwin and the Lower Donlands, and visualized as a recreational area/green space for the existing and envisioned population the Lower Donlands/East Bayfront areas of the waterfront.

The complex consists of two full-sized soccer fields plus a very attractive children’s playground located on the south side of Unwin just east of Cherry St. The south edge of the area stretches to within about 150 meters of the waterfront and is separated from it by a green berm and planted trees, thus effectively screening green waterfront space and sport/recreation space from each other. A footpath from Unwin Ave. joins the Martin Goodman Trail at the southeast corner of the fields.

Because the site in its undeveloped form was highly contaminated landfill, 30,000 cubic meters of contaminated soil were removed during site preparation and replaced with 100,000 cubic meters of clean soil, according to Waterfront Toronto’s Chair Mark Wilson. The whole area of the site was then capped with concrete before being overlaid with artificial turf. The turf has an anticipated lifespan of about 25 years, and the fields are constructed so that rainwater will drain into the southern berm, eliminating the need for artificial drains.

Wilson also noted that the high-intensity lighting system required for nighttime play has been designed to eliminate upward-light spill that is distracting to the migratory birds in the area.

Public transit access to the site remains an issue.

While there is plenty of on-site parking and access by bicycle is easy (despite a shortage of bike rings), TTC access is effectively non-existent except in summer. The 172A bus route services Cherry St. all the way to Cherry Beach but only in the summer months from Victoria Day to Labour Day. At all other times the 172A and the 72A (Pape-Union) go along Cherry only as far as Commissioners St., making access for transit users very difficult in the shoulder seasons when the fields are still usable.

Councillor Fletcher told The Bulletin she had not been aware that TTC service south of Commissioners was summer-only. She said that she intends to ask the TTC to reinstate it on a year-round basis. Waterfront Toronto noted that as housing density and economic development in the neighbouring areas grow, TTC service will improve in density and frequency.

See photos of the new playing fields online at thebulletin.ca.