Weston Family Quarry Garden

 

 

The Don Valley Brick Works Quarry to the Weston Family Quarry Garden The Quarry Timeline The Landfill - Scotia Plaza Restoration of the Quarry  Plants Blogs Evergreen's Native Plant Database  The North Slope Toronto's Ice Age A.P. Coleman  (Arthur Philemon Coleman) Geology Cistern Animals References:

 

It is estimated that 80% of Canadians live in urban areas surrounded by condominiums, and concrete.  It is not surprising that more and more people want to leave the cities and move to areas in which they can breathe.

The Don Valley Brick Works Quarry now the Weston Family Quarry Garden is a 16.5 hectare (40 acres) area transformed into a thriving green space managed by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation.

easily accessible by bike or by foot from the Beltline Trail.

 

 

 

The Don Valley Brick Works Quarry to the Weston Family Quarry Garden

 

 

Then	Now
Reference:   B&W Quarry 1920's	Reference: http://ebw.evergreen.ca/files/Green-City-Adventure-Camp-Parent-Handbook.pdf

 

Photo Credit:  Beverley Auburn

Photo Credit:  Beverley Auburn

 

 

The Quarry Timeline

 

1984	mining in the Quarry ceased
1985	Torvalley Associates, a development company, bought the entire site (quarry & industrial pad).  the plan, develop a housing development with the help of East York council for allowing it to be re-zoned as residential site
1985	Scotia Plaza construction started. land fill produced during excavation was used to fill the Quarry, in preparation for development
1987	the Metropolitan Toronto Conservation Authority (TRCA) acquired the entire site (quarry and industrial pad) and is operated by the City of Toronto
1991	one of Evergreen's earliest projects was to lead tree-planting activities in the Lower Don Watershed
1994	regeneration of the Quarry began with significant financial donation from West Family Trust
1997	the site re-opened as a city park, now called the Weston Family Quarry Gardens
1998	Evergreen helped plant the wildflower meadows
2002	the Garden Group  meets twice a week to join in the planting of native species, caring of the plantings and removing inveaive plants

 

Source:  Feedback from Bev A. 'Tour Guide Volunteer and Welcome Desk Host' Sunday, Dec 02, 2012

 

 

The Landfill - Scotia Plaza

 

• contains 190,000 m² (2,045,143 sq ft) of office space and 40 retail stores. The complex continues to serve as the head office of Scotiabank.
• The Scotia Bank (The Bank of Nova Scotia) built a commercial office complex situated in the financial district http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_District,_Toronto of Toronto’s downtown core http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Toronto
• bordered by Yonge Street on the east, King Street West on the south, Bay Street on the west, and Adelaide Street West on the north. Scotia Plaza is connected to the PATH network, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto)
• Construction started in 1985
• Completed in 1988
• Excavation reached a depth of 110 ft which is the depest excavation for a building in Canada’s history
• 68 story tower is Canada’s second tallest building and the 21^st tallest building in North America

 

 

 

Restoration of the Quarry 

 

Map Reference http://www.lostrivers.ca/BrickWorksPark.htm

in 1990 the City of Toronto and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) raised approximately $6 million dollars to restore the site's quarry as a park and natural area for wildlife. In 1995 the Restoration on the quarry began  The park section of the Brick Works includes a series of three ponds, a large meadow and a small forest. During the excavation of the quarry, one of the lost rivers called Mud Creek was discovered.    Mud Creek was diverted into the Park to flow through a series of ponds (1) where the water is cleaned naturally before being returned to the Don River.  in 2002, recognized by the province as an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. Opened in 1996, the park is managed by Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and worth a visit in any season.

 

 

Plants

 

Blogs

1. Cat O’Ninetails
2.  

 

Evergreen's Native Plant Database 

• Evergreen's Native Plant Database

 

 

The North Slope

• The North Slope (2) of the old Brick Works quarry is recognized internationally as one of the five most important geological sites in North America.
• In the 1890’s the workers, while digging for shale, noticed fossils in the ground leading to an important discovery by A.P. Coleman, a geologist & UofT professor
• In the North face of the quarry there is evidence of 2 ice ages -- with the Interglacial layer preserved
• This is highly unusual –interglacial deposits would normally be obliterated by 2^nd ice age
• The fossils were discovered in the layer between the ice ages that suggested there were 2 ice ages with Interglacial layer presered
• it is to be maintained for geological education, research and heritage interpretation; active management to encourage vegetation communities is not planned.

 

 

Toronto's Ice Age

 

See Articles:

 

Credit:  http://torontoist.com/2012/03/prehistoric-toronto-glacial-lake-iroquois/   The blue border shows the outline of the lakes today. The colour shapes with the wavy lines show the glacial lakes as they were 12,000 years ago.

Prehistoric Toronto: Glacial Lake Iroquois As the last Ice Age glacier retreated from above Toronto, its meltwater, for a time, overwhelmed the city. By Daniel Sellers• Illustration by Chloe Cushman   Prehistoric Toronto: The Paleozoic Era A brave creature crawls across a primeval seafloor that will one day be Toronto. By Daniel Sellers• Illustration by Chloe Cushman   Prehistoric Toronto: The Missing Rock Record All manner of fantastical creature populated the Earth for 450 million years between the mid-Paleozoic and late-Cenozoic eras. Unfortunately, placing any of them in Toronto is simply impossible. By Daniel Sellers• Illustration by Chloe Cushman   Prehistoric Toronto: The Ice Age Throughout the world, the Pleistocene epoch was known for its giant mammals. Toronto was no exception. By Daniel Sellers• Illustrations by Chloe Cushman   Prehistoric Toronto: The Torontoceros The 1976 discovery of a unique fossil below west-end Bloor Street tells us that an extinct and little-known deer once called Toronto home. By Daniel Sellers• Illustration by Chloe Cushman

 

 

 

A.P. Coleman  (Arthur Philemon Coleman)

•  Geologist, Explorer (1852 – 1939) – Science, Art & Discovery
•  was appointed Director of the Museum of Geology in 1913 to join five other museums, Archaeology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Zoology which came to be known as the Royal Ontario Museum.
• Dr. Coleman is considered one of Canada’s pre-eminent geologists who during his long career in the earth sciences travelled to all the continents and sea-to-sea in Canada in his insatiable search for a better understanding of earth’s history and evolution. 
• Awarded many titles and medals during his long career he was most proud of having a mountain, Mount Coleman in British Columbia, named in his honour.
•  in 1913, the Ontario Department of Mines published Dr. A.P. Coleman's “Map of Toronto and Vicinity” the first comprehensive geological map of Toronto (  A geological map is essentially a birds-eye view of, in the case of the Toronto, the types of sediments found and their distribution through the area. Geological maps are keys to communicating earth science information and their use is fundamental to land-use planning.
• 1893 quarry workers brought to the attention of A.P. Coleman fossils in they had discovered in the quarry.
• Coleman discovered and documented evidence of two periods of glaciation, with a rich deposit of warmer-climate fossils in between called the interglacial layer.
• the geological significance of the North Slope was one of the reasons the site was spared from condiminium development in the late 1980's 

 

Geology Cistern

• Quarry Photo 1920

 

Fossils in the layer between ice ages told Coleman that the climate during that period was much warmer than today’s This evidence supported the idea of cyclic changes of climate The cistern has a reproduction of pages from his notebook – shows what fossils told him about Climate Change & Extinct Species of vegetation and animals – including giant beaver (4x current size) and mammoth If you explore the rest of the site, keep your eyes open for one of our artworks – you may find Coleman’s Boot

 

 

 

Archival Photos on Back Wall

1. QUARRY PHOTO – 1920s

• Depth of quarry about 120 ft
• In 1994 the first steps in the restoration began with infilling the quarry
• Filled with landfill from when the Scotia Plaza was being built
• Weston Quarry Gardens opened in 1997

2. SKYLINE OF TORONTO – List of Major Buildings

• Great Fire of 1904 resulted in much of downtown Toronto being destroyed
• New building codes mandated masonry construction
• resulted in a boom in brick production
• By 1907 this was the largest brick factory on the continent

 

 

 

 



Reference:

1. Don Valley Brick Works Geology - North Slope
2. Online A.P. Coleman Exhibition  

 

Resources

Toronto Park People - www.parkpeople.ca 

 

 

 

Animals

See:

• The Beaver 

 

 

  

References:

1.   Geography