The parking lot at 34 Hanna Avenue already gives up one corner to something else. At its northeast corner, facing Hanna Avenue and Liberty Street, sits a 720 m² patch of painted asphalt covered in green, yellow, blue, orange and pink, with "LOVE LIBERTY" in large black letters, set with tables, seating and planters. The ground mural is by local artist Elise Goodhoofd, and blogTO reported that it officially opened on June 20, 2025. The City calls it a Park in Progress, a placeholder that holds the corner until the real thing arrives.
The real thing now has five possible faces. On October 3, the City showed the five shortlisted proposals for a permanent 4,900 m² park covering the whole lot, at the southwest corner of Hanna and Liberty, at an open house in the Liberty Market Building, from noon to 4 p.m. According to the City's project page, that is a bit larger than Liberty Village Park. A jury deliberates in November, and the City expects to announce a winner in December 2026.
Two years ago, the neighborhood wrote down what it wanted this corner to be. Read against that list, the five designs agree on the greenery. What sets them apart is how much of a small site each one leaves for sitting still.
The wish list from fall 2024
Between September 19 and October 10, 2024, 397 people took part in the City's online Thought Exchange for this site. The summary report lists three themes among the most popular ideas. One of them reads:
"A peaceful, quiet and calm place to slow down, relax, and escape the busy city."
The other two asked for "a natural, green oasis that provides an escape from the cars and concrete of the area" and for lots of grass, trees and native plants to support biodiversity. Participants also pointed out that the neighborhood already has children's play areas and dog parks. More of them wanted this park geared toward adults, and some raised concerns about dog waste.
The survey then asked people to rank nine features. This was the order:
- Lots of places to sit
- Flexible open green space
- Trees and planting beds
- Shade feature and/or pavilion with seating underneath
- Flexible open paved space for events or gatherings
- Sports courts
- Play equipment or a splash pad for children
- Outdoor exercise equipment
- Enclosed off-leash area for dogs
When asked about the park's character, 51 percent picked "Eventful," meaning small local markets, performances and outdoor movie nights. That came after "Green and sustainable" at 69 percent and "Peaceful" at 52 percent. So the brief residents wrote was clear about its order: green and calm first, gatherings close behind, and dogs and splash pads at the bottom.
How the five finalists answer it
All five came out of an international competition. The first stage drew 26 submissions and, which closed on December 9, 2025. The details below come from UrbanToronto's October 8 rundown of each concept.
| Design | Team | Green and planting | Seating | Event space | Features ranked low in 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ànakwad Park | CCxA Architectes Paysagistes and gh3 | Two lawns, wooded mounds | Sheltered swinging benches | 1,200 m² central clearing, performance pavilion | Dog off-leash area with pet-washing station |
| Liberty Yard | Daoust Lestage | Orderly rows of trees, rain gardens, planted pockets | Communal tables | Open clearing for markets and performances | Water and mist for play |
| Liberty Village Living Room | Hapa Collaborative and MJMA | Planted berm, rain garden, Bean Bag Lawn | Mega Sofa bench, picnic seating | Central gathering space | None described |
| Windborne Common | Nippaysage and Saucier + Perrotte | Planting on more than 60% of the park | Picnic areas, seating alcoves | Central gathering and event space | Spray terrace |
| Liberty Nature Park | PMA and Henning Larsen | Woodland, meadow, wetland, pollinator planting | Seating pockets, amphitheatre seating | Civic plaza for markets, performances, festivals | Play areas, mist fountain |
Every row has trees and planting. On the top three items of the 2024 list, the field is close to unanimous. The differences start further down.
Where the quiet goes
In Windborne Common, planting covers more than 60 percent of the park, spread across woodland, grassland and wet meadow, with bridges and a boardwalk crossing the landscapes that collect rainwater. It takes its cue from the Ontario Wind Engine and Pump Company, which once occupied the site, and a terra cotta pavilion would hold washrooms and sheltered gathering space. Wendat artist Ludovic Boney's Sous l'action du vent / Driven by the Wind, made of weathering steel, mirrored surfaces and colour, would rise above the Common. It also includes a spray terrace, which falls under the splash-pad category residents ranked seventh.
Liberty Nature Park follows a similar path. A winding steel boardwalk runs through woodland, meadow, wetland and pollinator planting, and pavilions shaped like chimneys would house washrooms and a tower for chimney swifts. Its civic plaza, with a mist fountain and amphitheatre seating, is meant for markets, performances and festivals. It is the most event-ready plan in the field, sitting alongside one of the most ecological.
The 1,200 m² central clearing in Ànakwad Park takes up roughly a quarter of the 4,900 m² site, split into two lawns, with wooded mounds buffering the surrounding streets. The name and the rounded forms come from the Anishinaabemowin word for "cloud." Four corner pavilions would hold a washroom and small retail kiosk, sheltered swinging benches, a performance space, and the entrance to a dog off-leash area with a pet-washing station. Artwork by Anishinaabe French-Canadian artist Caroline Monnet would cover the pavilions' curved vaults. Of the five, it is the only design that includes the feature residents ranked ninth.
Liberty Yard draws on factory and rail yards. Its open clearing sits beneath orderly rows of trees and would host markets, performances and informal play. Communal tables and quieter planted pockets offer places to eat, work or relax. Those quiet pockets are the closest any finalist comes to building the 2024 "peaceful" theme straight into the plan.
Places to sit, the number-one request, shape all of Liberty Village Living Room. The whole park is laid out as furniture: a salvaged-brick "area rug," a "Mega Sofa" bench, a "Bean Bag Lawn," a curtain trellis and picnic seating, arranged around the Hearth, a burnished-steel sculpture people can step into, with stacked forms that recall industrial tubing. A public washroom and park storage sit under a planted berm. The UrbanToronto description lists no dog run, splash pad or play equipment.
What the lot gives up
The site is a Toronto Parking Authority lot, and it will be transferred to the City. The City has answered parking concerns head-on. It cites a study for the Liberty Village Public Realm Strategy, which found that only 57 percent of the neighborhood's parking spaces are used at peak times and that surface lots are more popular than underground ones. The study concluded that future parking needs can be met, though drivers may face trade-offs on location and cost.
Who weighs in, and when
The jury includes experts in landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, art, curation, climate resilience and Indigenous design. A 25-member Community Advisory Committee gives community feedback through a professional advisor. Twenty of its members are local residents chosen by civic lottery. The other five represent the Liberty Market Building, the Liberty Village BIA, the Liberty Village Residents' Association, On Task Studio Toronto and St. Felix Centre. The committee met in person on October 1 to look at the proposals. The City says a summary of this round of feedback will be posted once it is ready. Toronto Life's October 9 recap describes all five proposals, but no public record of resident reactions has been released yet.
The schedule from here, according to the City:
- November 2026: jury evaluation
- December 2026: winning team announced
- Spring 2027: Community Engagement Phase 3, with an advisory committee meeting, an online survey and an open house on the preferred design
- Spring to winter 2027: detailed design
- Fall 2028: construction begins
- Fall 2030: the park opens
The City notes that the timeline may change, and its own page disagrees on one date. The timeline says the Park in Progress closes in fall 2028, while the project description says it should close with the parking lot when construction starts in 2027. Until construction starts, Elise Goodhoofd's LOVE LIBERTY corner stays in place, and the spring 2027 survey is the next public chance to say whether the winning design kept to the 2024 list.
A park at Hanna and Liberty will change the view from a number of nearby windows and terraces by 2030, and that is worth weighing well before the ribbon is cut. If you own near the site and want a discreet read on how the five designs and the 2028 construction window affect your building, Penthouse Queen is glad to talk it through. Request private access.
