Marie Curtis Park was built after the devastating floods of Hurricane Hazel in 1954 destroyed 56 homes and cottages on the site, leaving 1,868 persons homeless and 81 dead.

[4] The park has a playground, wading pool, a two-colour children's labyrinth with a push-button activated spiral water fountain, a public swimming beach, a dog off-leash area, picnic spots and walking trails.

The beach is monitored from June to Labour Day by the City of Toronto for safe swimming as e.coli bacteria levels rise after rain-storms.

In the park area, land, including the parklands, was granted to Colonel Samuel Smith, a United Empire Loyalist from New York who fought for Britain in the Revolutionary War.

Lakeshore Road was established and Colonel Smith cleared part of the forest and built his house near the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in 1799.

[3] In the early 1900s, the land along the Lake Ontario shoreline and at the mouth of the creek was subdivided into lots for summer cottages, some of which were built on stilts to protect against frequent flooding along the floodplain.

[2] Just to the west of the flats, within today's Lakeshore Park, was a small arms manufacturing company that was constructed during World War II.

[10] The Long Branch village assessor stated that the homes should be condemned, but would not be due to the lack of replacement housing.

[10] This prompted the then Etobicoke River Conservation Authority to make an offer to purchase houses in the area to develop a park with flood controls.

New flood protection measures led to the government expropriation of 164 properties (at a cost of CA$800,000 ($8.91 million in 2023 dollars))[11] near the mouth of Etobicoke Creek and the removal of cottages on the flats.

70,000 tonnes of contaminated soil was removed and a containment facility for low-level radioactive waste was constructed at a cost of CA$1.6 million.

The operation arrested 76 men and two women for a total of 89 by-law infractions, including indecent exposure and engaging in sexual activity.

The Toronto Police Service denied the operation was homophobic, but rather "it was an attempt to respond to complaints from some residents about public nudity, indecent exposure and drug and alcohol consumption in the park".