During the 1980s, a condo project (now known as Harbour Terrace) was built on part of Maple Leaf Quay while the rest stood empty as a parking lot.

HTO is a play on H2O, the chemical formula for water, since "TO" is commonly used to refer to Toronto and it is a waterfront park.

The park's standout feature is a sandpit that holds Muskoka chairs and enormous fixed yellow metal umbrellas.

The umbrellas were designed to evoke the Georges Seurat painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

In 2016, HTO Park was included in The Landscape Performance Series Case Study Briefs, a database of over 200 exemplary built projects with quantified environmental, economic and social benefits.