Description:
Located on the Toronto waterfront, Tommy Thompson Park (Leslie Street Spit) is a unique urban wilderness in the heart of the city. The park is located on a man-made peninsula that extends five kilometres into Lake Ontario. Since 1986 Walter Kehm has maintained an active involvement with the design and construction of this major waterfront park from masterplanning through to implementation.
The significance of the park is its development as an ecologically significant area. Kehm developed the "conservation by design" philosophy that resulted in filled dredgeate deposition cells becoming major wetlands while upland fill areas became important plant and bird habitats. The park has over 365 bird species, both resident and migrant, several mammals, an emerging habitat for reptiles and amphibians, and important fish breeding and refuge areas. This 400 hectare abandoned waste disposal site has through conservation design become a federally registered significant habitat.
