| Cherry Beach | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The life guard station on Cherry Beach | |
 Interactive map of Cherry Beach | |
| Type | Public beach |
| Location | Toronto,Ontario |
| Coordinates | 43°38′13″N79°20′40″W / 43.63694°N 79.34444°W /43.63694; -79.34444 |
| Created | 1930s |
| Operated by | Toronto Parks |
| Website | [1] |
Cherry Beach (originallyClarke Beach Park) is a lakeside beach park located at the foot of Cherry Street just south of Unwin Avenue inToronto, Ontario, Canada. It is on Toronto's outer harbour just east of the Eastern Gap. It was once connected withToronto Islands as part of the former peninsula before 1852 and later as sandbar (also referred to as Fisherman’s Island).[1]
Despite its location at the tip of Toronto's formerly heavily industrialPort Lands area, Cherry Beach is a popular gathering place. There is no boardwalk and much of the surrounding areas is marshland or leftover grounds from what was once commercial industry and factory grounds. Recently the park has undergone improvements which includes a paved entrance way and a renovated washroom and swimming change room facilities. It has change rooms for bathers and barbecue areas for picnickers. It also has an off-leash area fordog walkers. TheMartin Goodman Trail passes through the park.
In summer, the beach water is generally calm, and slightly warmer than other Toronto beaches along the lake shore, as its shallow water is sheltered by theLeslie Street Spit from direct surges ofLake Ontario.
.jpg)
The area that comprises Cherry Beach today was originally a marsh and sandbar that has been land filled.[2] It was a place of spiritual significance for many indigenous people.[2][better source needed]
In the 1850s, settlers established a community in the area. The area was called Fisherman's Island and included a commercial fishery and church. People would travel to and from the mainland of Toronto by boat or across a breakwater that was built in 1882.[3]
The beach park was originally named Clarke Beach Park after Harry Clarke, analderman who was responsible for creating the park in the early 1930s.[4] In 1974, the Toronto's Central Waterfront Planning proposed to eliminate Cherry Beach for industrial use.[5] In 2003, the city officially renamed it to Cherry Beach which was already the common name among locals.[6] In 2020, a group of local residents issued a collective statement criticizing a feasibility study byWaterfront Toronto which considered providing water taxis access to the beach.[7]
For many years it was one of the few Toronto beaches that was clean enough forswimming,windsurfing andkitesurfing; It typically meets high water quality, environmental and safety standards;[8] however, a 2012 environmental assessment found that the concentration of lead and zinc in the soil at Cherry Beach is above guidelines, which is attributed to previous industrial use of the area.[2] The only other major stands of cottonwoods in the Toronto area beyond the Toronto Islands are located at Cherry Beach.[1]
A wooded area by the beach has been turned into soccer fields, children's play structure and a metered parking area.
In 2006 a pair ofsoccer fields were completed on land that had formerly been part of the greenbelt, at 275 Unwin Avenue.[9][10]The fields were surfaced inastroturf and built toFIFA standards, and games of the 2007 FIFA Jr championship were to be played there. During the environmental assessment the site was found to be heavily contaminated byheavy metals, hydrocarbons andPCBs.[citation needed] The soccer field was described as a "transitional" facility, as most of the land on either side of Unwin was underutilized city land that could be repurposed to sport facilities even though it was contaminated.
Toronto FC used the soccer pitches for practice while their own dedicated training facilities were being constructed atDownsview Park.[11]
Pukka Orchestra had a local radio hit in 1984 with the song "Cherry Beach Express." The song's name is a euphemism for the alleged police brutality committed on gay, indigenous, and homeless people at the beach between the 1940s and 1990s.[12][13][14][15] TheToronto police tried to have the song banned.[16]
Parts of the music video for theAlessia Cara song "Wild Things" were filmed at Cherry Beach.[17]
Parts of the filmSilent Hill: Revelation 3D were filmed at Cherry Beach.[18]
Toronto punk bandCareer Suicide named a 2008EP after Cherry Beach.[citation needed]
Cherry Beach typically achieves annual blue flag certification. This international eco-label is awarded to beaches that meet high water quality, environmental and safety standards.
The Toronto first team has been practising on an artificial turf field at Cherry Beach while the academy sides have worked out on the turf at Lamport Stadium.
...the poster recalls in a few short sentences the beatings that were allegedly inflicted on gays and aboriginals and other "undesirables" until the 1990s.
Toronto police had a long history of harassing gays and lesbians. During the 1940s and 1950s, they systematically rounded up lesbians, took them to a secluded spot at Cherry Beach, beat them up, and ten left them to fend for themselves.
Media related toCherry Beach Park at Wikimedia Commons