Update on Charles Street Playground Revitalization   

We are excited to provide residents at Charles Street with an update on the playground revitalization project.  

Previously, we had surveyed residents to understand how our community uses our playground and identify opportunities for improvement. We took this feedback and packaged it for a landscape architect who provided us with potential designs and colour palettes. We recently conducted another survey in July to have residents weigh in on which designs and colours they most preferred.  

Thank you to everyone who provided their thoughts and feedback on this project. We have taken the results of these surveys and worked with the landscape architect to select a play structure design and colour palette that will best suit our community’s needs. Linked here are the finalized designs for the playground. Some of the key features are: 

• A separate junior and senior play structure along with accessible design features. 
• Rubber safety surfacing in the playground area to improve safety. 
• Widened concrete walkways to comply with AODA minimum accessibility requirements. 
• A recycled plastic timber board to replace the wooden top board of the sandbox. 
• Four additional metal benches which will replace the existing wooden benches. 
• The existing metal fence will be repaired and painted. 

We are now in the final stages of the procurement process and are expecting this project to be awarded in February of 2023. Due to the inclement weather over the winter months, construction is estimated to start in the spring/summer of 2024. 

Although we currently do not have a contractor selected, we are estimating construction to take 6-8 weeks to complete. Please note that this timeline could shift as we have been advised by our landscape architect that there are supply chain delays specific to playground equipment. 

Thank you for your input and patience with this very special project for our community. Should you have any questions, please reach out operationscharles.ufh@utoronto.ca. 

Charles Street Elevator Modernization Project 

In 2019, building condition assessments were conducted for Charles Street to inform how we prioritize major capital work, including upgrades to the elevators in both 30 and 35 Charles.  

We are pleased to provide an update on this and announce that the elevator modernization project has been awarded to the company, Thyssenkrupp Elevators. We are currently waiting for the construction schedule to be provided, but we anticipate that work will begin shortly in March of 2023 for 35 Charles. Work in 30 Charles will only begin once the elevator modernization is complete at 35 Charles, which we expect to be in the winter of 2023.  

To conduct this work, one elevator will be taken out of service at a time, and it is expected that it will take 10-12 weeks to modernize each elevator. When putting together the contract for this project, we stipulated that the service elevator cannot be taken out of commission during the months of May to September, when we experience a high volume of move-ins and move-outs. With one elevator unavailable for the foreseeable future, residents are advised to expect longer wait times. There may also be times when the service elevator is booked temporarily, leaving only one elevator available. We suggest allocating additional time when leaving the building or using the stairs when possible.  

We understand this project will have an impact on residents’ everyday lives, but these repairs and upgrades are necessary as major components of the existing elevators are nearing the end of their lifecycle. We want to proactively improve the reliability and performance of this crucial equipment, including replacing elevator cabin interiors and major components such as door operators and motors. Control systems will also be updated, giving us better reliability regarding elevator performance in the future.  

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we complete this necessary work. As this project progresses, we will provide regular updates on construction schedules and any other details that will have an impact on residents. Should you have any questions, please reach out to operationscharles.ufh@utoronto.ca. 

[Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to reflect the most up-to-date timelines for these projects]

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