A proposal to close Toronto's Barbara Hall Park at night has left the surrounding community divided, weighing concerns about safety against the meaning the space holds for many who use it. The park has become the focus of a debate that pits residents who say it has become dangerous against those who fear that shutting it down would erase a place of refuge and remembrance. At the center of that tension is the park's role as more than just green space.
For some, the park is a site of personal memory. Every month, Tom Hooper visits a memorial there for his uncle, who died of AIDS in 1994. He described needing that mentor many times over the years, and coming to the park to feel close to him. The plaques commemorating his uncle's life, and those of thousands of others, are part of an AIDS memorial that gives the park a particular significance for the community.
Yet local officials say problems in the park have grown too serious to ignore. The local councillor acknowledged that violence, drug use and vandalism have gone too far. After hearing from residents, he moved a motion to the city's Economic and Community Development Committee, asking staff to consult the community about closing the park down at night.
Residents who feel unsafe described their own experiences. One said he himself does not feel safe going through the park, and that he has seen assaults take place, along with a lot of arrests and drug use. Another said it was scary to walk to work in the morning, adding that the park was once a place where people used to hang out. For them, the proposed closure reflected how far conditions had deteriorated.
Others pushed back, arguing that closing the park would not solve the underlying problems. Many attribute the issues to the 519 next door, an organization that provides services to the queer community along with programs for people who use drugs. Its staff said that closing the park at night is not the solution, and that what is needed is more support, sharing the concerns about people who need somewhere to live.
Councillor Moyes said the city has been cleaning up litter and needles at the park every day, and has deployed crisis outreach teams and security, but that those efforts have not fully tackled the problem. He noted that all city cemeteries are closed at night and that such closures have been done at other parks before. There is also already a plan to redesign the park, including consideration of popular suggestions from the community, particularly for the AIDS memorial.
For many, the prospect of fencing off the memorial is especially painful. Hooper said that to fence off the space at night, pushing out another community that is also suffering, would be a betrayal of what the memorial represents, and stressed its importance to him as a member of the queer community. After a long and heated discussion, the committee carried the motion, but instead of sending it straight to council, it was referred to deputy city managers to consider the community's feedback, leaving the park's future, and the memorial's, still unresolved.