Regent Park is a residential neighborhood in the heart of downtown Toronto, Ontario area. In the late 1940s, it was constructed as a public housing complex, which was maintained by Toronto Community Housing. It is located on the site of what used to be an important section of the Cabbagetown neighborhood. This neighborhood is bordered to the north by Gerrard Street East, to the east by River Street, to the south by Shuter Street, and to the west by Parliament Street.
Prior to the ongoing reconstruction, Regent Park’s residential dwellings were fully made up of social housing and covered the whole 69-acre site that makes up the community. As part of the development of Regent Park, a portion of the original neighborhood was demolished. The appellation Cabbagetown is currently used to the remaining historical region north and west of the housing project, which has undergone significant gentrification from the 1960s and 1970s, and which has been referred to as “Cabbagetown” by locals.
The Regent Park projects, which were more than half a century old, were deteriorating rapidly and in in need of significant repairs. During the following several years, the local administration will devise a plan to demolish and reconstruct Regent Park, with the first phase of work beginning in the fall of 2005. The construction of market apartments on the property increased the number of units in Regent Park by a factor of two.
Former street layouts will be recreated, and housing will be built to be similar in style to that of neighboring communities. Regent Park’s physical isolation from the rest of the city will be removed as a result of this project.
An architectural competition for the design of the first apartment building in the complex was held in support of the Clean and Beautiful City campaign launched by former Toronto Mayor David Miller, as well as to further the goal of renewing architecture in all Toronto Community Housing projects. The winning design was chosen as part of the Clean and Beautiful City campaign.
The competition’s winner was Toronto-based architects Alliance, which submitted a plan that included a modern glass point tower perched atop a red-brick podium building. While phase two of the revitalization plan has not yet been finished, the third stage of the plan began in May 2014 and will entail the construction of new or modified facilities.
Bayview Village, Toronto
Kitchen Renovation Toronto Co.
