Photos: Queen's Park

David Bogart led the Heritage Toronto Queen's Park walk inside the West Wing of the Legislative Assembly building on 17-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Coverage of summer in Toronto, Ontario on my photo site continues with a three-part look at Queen's Park. A Heritage Toronto walk featured the monuments on the grounds and went inside the Legislative Assembly building on 17-July-2010, a Heritage Tour walk focused on the trees in the park on 14-August-2010, and the most unique event was the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 6-July-2010.

Heritage: The Trees of Queen's Park

Todd Irvine spoke about one of his favourite trees, a 250 year-old red oak, to a Heritage Toronto walk in Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario on 14-August-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - On 11-September-1860, Edward, Prince of Wales, opened Queen's Park in what has become central Toronto. 150 years later, Queen's Park is getting quite a bit of attention, including a Heritage Toronto tour of the grounds focusing on its botanical history led by well-known local urban forestry consultant, Todd Irvine, last Saturday.


Horse chestnut trees such as this later planting observed on 14-August-2010 once lined University Avenue in the area of Queen's Park

Once, the area around Queen's Park had been full of white pines and red oak trees. When the legislative assembly building was built, many of these trees were removed to make way for the building and to open the area to its south. However, to the north, the forest was initially left in place, meaning that 250 year-old red oak trees have survived, now some of Irvine's favourite trees in the park. White pines are being replanted, so while some oaks are not in good health, the northern part of the park may slowly start to resemble its original appearance. In the meantime, many waves of different appearances have graced the park. Once, horse chestnut trees lined University Avenue, and now mostly later plantings of this species dot the grounds.


The interesting-looking seed pods of the Kentucky coffee tree generally held three seeds, seen at Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario on 14-August-2010

As always on a Heritage Toronto walk, there was a lot to learn. I didn't know that the Scadding Cabin, the oldest building in Toronto, had been built of the same white pine species that had once dominated Queen's Park. I didn't know there was such a thing as a tulip-tree, even if it doesn't really resemble the flower. One tree that was especially interesting was the Kentucky coffee. Not only did I learn how its seed pod could actually be used as a coffee substitute, but that its leaves were actually compound, and what I would have thought were the leaves were actually leaflets. Come autumn, first the leaflets will fall, then the remainder of the leaf structure.


Todd Irvine held what was actually a single leaf of a Kentucky coffee tree, pointing to the leaflets in Queen's Park on 14-August-2010

Different walk leaders have different styles, and Todd Irvine tried something I hadn't seen before on a Heritage Toronto Walk--showing historical pictures using a laptop computer. It didn't work--besides the outside glare issues, the screen simply wasn't big enough. Sticking with laminated print-outs that can be passed around seems to be the optimum alternative.


The use of a computer to show pictures during the Trees of Queen's Park Heritage Toronto walk was largely ineffective on 14-August-2010

Early in the walk, someone asked about black walnut trees, and upon seeing one near the north end of the park, Irvine decided to divert the walk to it and end it there. Such serendipity is the joy of going on Heritage Toronto walks.

Heritage: Queen's Park Tour

Queen's Park, built in 1892, is the seat of government for Ontario, and the focus of a Heritage Toronto walk on 17-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Many of Heritage Toronto's walks are done in concert with the organizations in charge of the sites in question that can offer quite a perspective, and the Queen's Park walk held Saturday was a classic example. David Bogart, the Communications Officer of the Legislative Assembly staff, led the tour around the grounds and then inside the building.


David Bogart showed a picture of a tree planting; the tree had grown to have more than a foot-wide trunk by 17-July-2010

Officially, the walk was to focus on the monuments around the grounds of Queen's Park, many of which are quite remarkable. While we had to take a slightly different route in order to avoid the noise of an ongoing protest, there was a lot of information presented on the history of the grounds, which had once featured quite different ornamentation including a significant fountain at its south end. The use of historical pictures juxtaposed against the present state effectively helped tell that story. The recent visit of the Queen, covered on this blog, added additional contemporary interest to some of the sites.


The view from the second floor of the West Wing of Queen's Park showed the grandeur of the building's interior on 17-July-2010

While the walk officially ended outside and was worthwhile in its own right, Bogart next led us inside on a special version of the normal Queen's Park Legislature tour. This part of the tour really impressed me, as various aspects of government and politics came to life, from the portraits of past premiers to the mace serving as the symbol of the Speaker's authority--both the present and the original mace used in Ontario were visible on this day.


A view toward the Speaker's chair was taken from the middle of the Legislative Chamber for the province of Ontario in Toronto on 17-July-2010

The obvious focal point of the interior tour was the Legislative Chamber itself. While I have rarely watched the television feed of Provincial Parliament on the Internet, news clips of the debate do not do the room justice. The way the press and visitor galleries peer into the room, the skill with which the television cameras were hidden in the walls, the and the ornamentation around the Speaker's chair all seemed much more impressive in person to me.


A small glass pane in the floor outside the Legislative Assembly showed some of the damage done to the building in a 1909, seen on 17-July-2010

Having an expert tour guide to point out things like the location of the Executive Council Chamber, the offices of well-known Members of Provincial Parliament, the significance of the placement of royal portraits, and details that might otherwise be missed like the subtle display of 1909 fire damage, really made the visit special. The "real walk" may have been outside, but most of what I will remember was inside, thanks to David Bogart of the Legislative Assembly staff.