Sunnyside, Toronto
The area is a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long strip along the lakeshore, bounded by the Gardiner Expressway and rail lines, which separate it from the Parkdale, Roncesvalles and Swansea neighbourhoods to the north.
The name originates in a local farm owned by John Howard, which was situated just to the north, on the location of the current St. Joseph's Health Centre hospital.
An archeological find early in the 1900s near High Park found evidence of an indigenous burial mound similar to those of the Red Paint People dating back over 2,000 years.
The first European settlement of the area originated in 1750 with the founding of Fort Rouillé by the French on today's Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds.
Colborne Lodge, located within High Park, just north of the lake and owned by John Howard was built in 1837.
Starting just east of Roncesvalles the rails used to rise the hill to the level of today's Springhurst Avenue to the South Parkdale railway station.
Less than 3 feet (0.91 m) tall, and weighing 40 pounds (18 kg), he had a grey beard and wore a cabbage leaf to cover his head from the sun.
Soley played fiddle music on the violin and his death was front-page news in 1916, when he died at the age of 54 from bronchitis.
In 1916, the City started providing free streetcar service to take children to bathe at Sunnyside.
The Commission extended the shoreline about 100 yards (91 m) to the south, from Wilson Park Road to the Humber River (the western boundary of Toronto at the time), using landfill brought from Pickering, Ontario and sand dredged from the lake bottom.
Lakeshore Road, now connected to King and Queen by bridge, was widened to four lanes from the Humber to the Jameson Avenue area.
Events such as ship burnings, tight-rope walkers and outdoor concerts made the Park a popular spot into the 1950s.
Under the leadership of Fred Gardiner, the project, which necessitated the demolition of the Park and a waterfront neighbourhood south of Jameson Avenue to the east, was pushed through, starting in 1955.
The Toronto Harbour Commission cancelled all land leases in the area after some off-season fires and demolished all but the Palais Royale and the Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion and Pool.
The highway required most of the Amusement Parklands along the railway right-of-way and the Lakeshore to Queen Street bridge was demolished.
The changes in traffic patterns and the closing of the amusement park also affected businesses in the Queen and Roncesvalles area, leading to much upheaval.
This changed in the 1970s, when local environmental groups organized regular clean-ups of the waterfront, removing trash from the lakeshore.
Neighbourhood associations raised concerns about private land usage including proposals to lease more waterfront by the Boulevard Club and other organizations.
The building of the Gardiner and the road expansions effectively put a barrier between the neighbourhoods and the waterfront, and this remains unresolved.
The Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion was renovated in 1980 and now houses a cafe with a patio on the boardwalk and a tea garden.
It has been moved from its original location north of Lake Shore Boulevard to the south side just east of the parking lot.
In the 1990s, a new boardwalk, constructed of planks of recycled plastic was built along the shore from the foot of Roncesvalles west to the Humber River.
Sunnyside's western section, from the Humber River to west of the Bathing Pavilion is named in honour of Casimir Gzowski, a pioneer engineer in the building of railways in Canada.
In 1964, to commemorate the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the parklands between the Palais Royale and the Sunnyside Pavilion were named Budapest Park.
It is situated on the land north of Lake Shore Boulevard between Ellis Avenue and Colborne Lodge Drive, west of a stormwater pond.
In 2006, a special watercourse was built at the foot of Jameson Avenue at Marilyn Bell Park for a Dragon Boat Championships.
The beach is open for swimming most of the summer, although Lake Ontario's water temperature does not rise above 25 degrees Celsius.
[13][14][15][16] Heavy rains can flush pollutants down the river, temporarily making the beaches near its mouth unsafe for swimming.
The proposed Humber Islands would extend approximately one kilometre off shore, and would be connected by an underwater berm, directing the river's flow into deep water.
Plans include the realignment of Lake Shore Boulevard West to free up space for pedestrian, recreational and cycling uses.
