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 Centre for Addictionand Mental Health |
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Queen Street Redevelopment
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Redevelopment Update February 13 2007Despite the recent deep-freeze in Toronto, the construction of the first four buildings of Transforming Lives Here, the Queen Street redevelopment project, remains on-schedule. As CAMH reported to its Neighbourhood Liaison Committee on January 30, soil testing has confirmed the presence of contaminated fill buried within the future public park located at the northwestern corner of our site. CAMH is investigating how best to remedy this unfortunate situation; however, at present there does not appear to be any alternative to physically excavating the contaminated fill and replacing it with clean soil. Unfortunately, remediating the soil would require the removal of the existing trees on this corner of CAMH’s property. This would then be followed by the design and creation of a new public park in the same location. future public park status and next steps Below a layer of topsoil approximately 15 cm deep, there is a layer of historic fill, which extends to a depth of 75 cm. Below 75 cm is the native soil. The layer of fill is itself divided into two bands, one black and one white, and extends throughout the entire area of the future public park. The black band of fill has tested above Ministry of the Environment (MoE) requirements for Park, Residential and Institutional land uses for heavy metals such as lead, boron and zinc. Currently, the area in question is enclosed by our construction fence and is not accessible to the public. Furthermore, such contaminants are immobile and cannot migrate to adjacent properties. The extent of the contaminated soil was confirmed on November 21, 2006. While CAMH had conducted previous environmental investigations of the site in support of the redevelopment project, these test results indicated that only a portion of the future public park was contaminated. Based on these results, it was CAMH's plan to conduct further testing to support a limited excavation that could in theory preserve some of the existing trees. The November 21 testing results, part of the inspection and testing work which accompanies our construction activity, revealed that our preferred approach of a limited excavation, which would have allowed us to preserve a number of the existing trees, was not feasible. Based on our most recent testing, which involved the digging of test pits, it is our conclusion that the fill is the burnt remnants of municipal waste from the late 19th Century. During this period, it was a common practice to burn municipal waste and to use the resulting ash as fill to even-out uneven parcels of land, or to fill in low lying areas such as creek beds. In the late 19th Century the wall on the Western border of 1001 Queen Street West was relocated to its current location and it appears that some of the surrounding lands were filled with this ash. As this practice was common at the time, no records of the filling activity exist. Later, topsoil was placed over the ash and trees were planted. CAMH is required to convey this piece of land to the City of Toronto following the completion of construction on the current phase of redevelopment, (estimated to be done by January, 2008). This parcel was identified in the Master Planning process, along with several other areas, as an area to be maintained as treed open space. These obligations were formalized in the Subdivision and Site Plan Agreements, which require CAMH to convey this land to the City of Toronto in a condition “suitable for its intended use” as a public park. Due to the current levels of contamination, which exceed the MoE criteria for parks, the lands are not suitable. CAMH is committed to delivering a new public park to the City of Toronto and our neighbours that fulfills the original goal of a “grass and trees”park. CAMH is developing draft plans for a new park in consultation with City of Toronto staff. If you are interested in viewing and commenting on these new draft plans, you are invited to attend a special session of CAMH’s Neighbourhood Liaison Committee on March 20, 2007. This meeting will also include a review of alternatives to constructing a new park. Meeting details will follow in the coming days. Finally, soil testing will be carried out this coming spring on the future public park located at the corner of Queen Street West and Shaw Street. The past uses of this area do not lead us to believe that there are significant concerns; however, given our experiences thus far, CAMH believes it to be prudent to conduct a series of tests as soon as the weather allows and to share the results with our stakeholders in the community. construction update Current construction work is focusing on completing the footings, foundations and basements of the four Phase 1a buildings. In the coming weeks, work will begin to move above the surface, including the construction of concrete columns and floor slabs. Construction remains on-schedule and CAMH expects to occupy its new buildings in January 2008. Summary The first phase of our redevelopment involves the construction of four new buildings, one new public park, the extension of municipal services (including a new road) onto our site and the repair of the western sections of our Heritage Wall which borders our site. In all, Phase 1a will house 48 beds for our Addictions program and 24 for our Mood and Anxiety program in a more home-like setting. These new 'Alternate Milieu' buildings will enhance our ability to provide a high level of care for our clients. The vision for the overall redevelopment project is to create a new hub for CAMH within a mixed urban village on the current Queen Street site. If you have any specific questions about the update, or items that you would like addressed in future e-updates, please contact me (Chris Edey); my contact information is below. RCE ****** R. Christopher Edey T: 416.535.8501 x.3248 |
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Last updated: May 01, 2007 6:15 PM Published: Feb 13, 2008 6:35 PM ID#P28823 |