Grange Park — Attraction in Toronto

I grew up three doors away from Grange Park when I was a kid, the splashpad was my summer hangout. I was very skeptical about the renovation plans when they were announced, the park is somewhat sacred to me.

The good news is that the renovation was absolutely amazing. IMHO it's now the best small park in the centre of the city.

There was a lot of scepticism when news came out the plan was to move Henry Moore's 'Large Two Forms' statue from the front of the Art Gallery of Ontario to the renovated park. It was misguided, between the staging and the beautifully design lighting, the relocation has brought new life to the old statue. People are interacting with it once again, last time I walked through there were too lovers kissing between the two forms.

Stunning design throughout, and the new layout has created three separate paths one can walk through the park. Snazzy features including a new water feature that has a 50 meter long aquaduct which terminates in an shiny stainless steel bowl lit up by blue LED lights (bit of a cliché but still nice). Many have commented looks like a tea set or a small stainless steel table surrounded by stools.

Sadly, there are a lot of "moving parts" and Toronto has a bad habit of not properly budgeting maintenance costs on projects like this. It's been boarded up for the winter, time will tell if it's been vandalized or poorly maintained and not so beautiful when winter is over....

I love what they have done with this park. I knew Grange Park for a few decades. It was horrible, lacking any qualities that a city park should have. It was a short cut to most . It wasn't worth spending any time there. When a miracle happened. They turned this into a excellant example how size does not matter. They packed in all sorts of goodies and reworked the park to gem conditions. The biggest surprise and the best surprise is seeing the wonderful Henry Moore giant simmering smooth bronze sculptures. Loved his work when I was a kid and love it even more now. They taken these sculptures from places that were not doing them justice at all. With plenty of room to walk and sit around them. Or even better. Slap them with your hand, climb into one and have a sit. Pure beautiful timeless public art. Free for all. The rest of the park has lovely benches, spots of grass for the doggies and some nice plants that break it up. Into semi private spaces to sit and see nature ,art, and the city all playing nicely in...

Grange back in the late 80's 90's and first decade or so of the 2000's was a local spot hang out spot. The Queen street youth, homeless and local neighbours all shared it. It was a quiet safe spot just hidden North of Queen. I first visited it after panhandling in the day and goin there in the evening with friends that were crashing on the Church grounds. Back in the 90's it was a very valuable spot for the punk homeless youths as well as others. All were welcome if ya kept the peace. It wasnt odd back then too see mohawked learher jackets and camoflaged and bright haired ppl sharing the benches with elderly asians. Even tho... the park is no a tourist attraction and highly gentrified.. it all owes the good neighbourly feeling that is their, to the now elderz who slept ate and lived life to their fullest over the many...