Raindrop Plaza, Toronto

Raindrop Plaza conditions before construction.

This City of Toronto green infrastructure demonstration project, currently under construction, is located at Dundas St. E. and Coxwell Ave. It began as a community effort to improve pedestrian safety and beautify the area, by removing a turning lane and paved traffic island. It was designed in 2016 as a Green Streets pilot project with rainwater capture using permeable paving, with soil cells below to support healthy tree growth, and pollinator rain gardens. Ecoliteracy storytelling elements include community art by local schoolchildren to be installed in the central seating area, and Indigenous placekeeping with ‘sacred water’ images created through traditional beading by Wandering Spirit School (a new afterschool program led by Elder Pauline Shirt, with artist and Indigenous educator Amber Smith Quail, now an Indigenous Advisor for SpruceLab). Toronto District School Board EcoSchools staff supported both of the schools’ involvement in the initiative, and funded Toronto artist Dan Bergeron to work with Roden Junior School students, as well as Amber’s time to support the Wandering Spirit School program. An economic business case evaluation found high social benefits in the triple-bottom-line cost-benefit analysis of the project, as part of the Canadian Impact Infrastructure Exchange initiative led by the Carleton (University) Centre of Community Innovation. This research was to evaluate and encourage investor funding for public infrastructure projects that have high environmental, social and governance standards.  Raindrop Plaza has also been recognized by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, and the Toronto Resilience Strategy, as a precedent for Indigenous engagement and involvement in public realm design, in research and policy-focused documents.

The engagement and design for this project was led by Sheila (then Urban Designer, City Planning), working closely with Patrick Cheung, Senior Engineer, Toronto Water. Schollen and Company Inc. was hired to complete the detailed landscape design. SpruceLab is currently supporting Amber to finalize the integration of the students’ artwork in the final project.