Waterfront Regeneration Trust
Celebrates 15 Years and 52 Completed Projects

Waterfront Partners Meeting and Trail Ride:
Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead
September 19 – 20, 2007
Palais Royale, Toronto

Toronto, Ontario – September 19, 2007 – The Waterfront Regeneration Trust will celebrate the completion of 52 waterfront projects to enhance and expand the Waterfront Trail and Greenway with “Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead”. The events, taking place on September 19 and 20, 2007, acknowledge the successful partnerships between the Waterfront Regeneration Trust and the waterfront communities and conservation authorities across the 650 km trail that connects 41 communities. The events will also be a celebration 15 years of accomplishments that have seen hundreds of environmental and urban regeneration projects implemented to help revitalize the Ontario waterfront.

The 52 waterfront projects have added:

• 3 bridges
• 2 marina revitalization projects
• 7 cultural heritage facilities
• 10 new waterfront promenades
• 15 habitat restoration projects
• 16 restored and improved parks
• 10 new regional and local trail connections
• 70 km of trails

On Wednesday, September 19, 2007, “Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead” will explore 52 remarkable regeneration projects that have transformed the waterfront experience. Chaired by the Trust’s Founding Chair, David Crombie, The Trail Ahead will offer international perspectives on global trends in waterfront regeneration.

The event will be held at Toronto’s Palais Royale, 1601 Lakeshore Blvd. West from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. At 11:45 a.m, representatives from the Federal and Provincial Governments along with David Crombie, Waterfront Regeneration Trust, will unveil two bronze plaques commemorating the projects that have made a contribution to the enhancementand expansion of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway. CIBC, the Trust’s founding sponsor, will be honoured for its 11-year commitment to support the completion, enhancement, and promotion of the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail.

The Trust welcomes a new partner to the network—the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. "The Heart and Stroke Foundation sees the Waterfront Trail and Greenway as an easily accessible infrastructure that wonderfully aligns with our goal of preventing heart disease and stroke in Canadians." commented Rocco Rossi, CEO Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.

On Thursday, September 20, 2007, to mark the 15 years of trail-building, the waterfront partners have declared Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day. Approximately 50 waterfront partners will cycle the 56 km section of trail from Mississauga to Pickering. This is the first step towards creating an annual trail-wide event that will give the people who inspired a waterfront trail a unique
opportunity to explore 650 km of lakeshore from Niagara to Quebec and “do more on the shore”. Events get underway in Mississauga at 8:00 a.m. with special events planned at the three key areas. (see event listing)

The Waterfront Trail and Greenway is a signed route that stretches
650 km tip to tip from Niagara to Quebec along the Canadian Shores of Lake Ontario and the provincial shores of the St. Lawrence River. An additional
250 kms of scenic loops and side trips mean the Waterfront Trail offers a
900 km of scenic landscape, vibrant urban life and quiet rural living. The Waterfront Trail connects 41 communities and is easily accessible to over six million people, representing 59% of Ontario’s population and 22% of the Canadian population.

In May 2007, the Trust announced the official connection of the Waterfront
Trail to Quebec’s La Route Verte.

“Today, the Waterfront Trail and Greenway is a provincial greenway-- an
environmental legacy speaking to our collective commitment to regenerating the waterfront. It is a major part of the emerging provincial green infrastructure,
providing people with valuable fitness, recreational and active transportation opportunities.” says Marlaine Koehler, Executive Director, Waterfront Regeneration Trust.

In 1992, the province of Ontario founded the Waterfront Regeneration Trust to develop a strategy for the Lake Ontario greenway as well as implement the Royal Commission recommendation for a continuous Waterfront Trail. (See attached Backgrounder on the Waterfront Trail and Waterfront Regeneration Trust.)

The completion of the 52 regeneration projects on the waterfront represents $30 million of investment by Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program and the waterfront municipalities and conservation authorities. Through this program the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario contributed $9.2 million.

“Fifteen years ago the Waterfront Trail was a recommendation, today it is a reality,” says Waterfront Regeneration Chair, David Crombie. “While much has been accomplished on the Trail, there remains work to be done. Closing the gaps is consistent with the green, sustainable and healthy living agendas of the current governments.”

Working with the waterfront communities and partners the Waterfront Regeneration Trust has identified 35 new projects that will address the remaining gaps in the route; establish important connections into neighbourhoods; and move the Trail closer to the water’s edge as those opportunities become available.

A knowledgeable panel of speakers has been brought together for “Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead” on September 19, presenting keynote addresses and chairing panels, including:

• Founding Waterfront Regeneration Trust Chair, David Crombie
• Marlaine Koehler, Executive Director, The Waterfront Regeneration Trust
• Fred Kent, President, Project for Public Spaces, New York will look at cities that have created the world’s best waterfront public spaces, as well as some who still have a lot of work ahead of them in his address “What if we Built Our Waterfront Around Places?”
• Joe Berridge, Partner, Urban Strategies, discusses how to create a vision that balances sound planning with pragmatism, how to stick to the vision, communicate with diverse shareholders, and how to establish priorities that work for the community in his address “Preparing for the Next Wave: Sustaining the Vision”
• Adriaan Geuze, West 8, and head of the design team transforming the central Toronto waterfront, will discuss building a place for people with a unique and distinctive identity that captures deeply held Canadian values for its natural heritage.
• Keynote Speaker T.J. Juskiewicz, Organizer, Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) presents a 35-year old family cycling and fundraising event which begins at the Missouri River
  and ends by dipping front wheels in the Mississippi. Participants in this annual six-day event take in community events hosted by communities along the 640 km route. RAGBRA attracts 8500 registered participants.
• Panel on Multi-community Event Programming with panelists:
  • Gil Penalosa, Executive Director, Walk and Bike for Life
  • Teresa Mitchell, Executive Director, The Seaway Trail
  • Joelle Sévigny, La Route Verte – La Grande Tour
  • Scott Carpenter, President, Lake Erie Coastal Ohio

For more information on these events and the Waterfront Regeneration Trust log on to www.waterfronttrail.org or call 416-943-8080.

Waterfront Regeneration gratefully acknowledges its supporters:
CIBC, Founding Partner
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario
The MMM Group
Toronto Hydro Corporation
WATERFRONToronto
Epson Canada
In association with:
Canadian Urban Institute

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For media information contact:

Edye Rome: Tel: 416-785-6213 cell: 416 993-6213 Email: edyerome@sympatico.ca, Vince Ciarlo: Tel: 416-763-378 cell: 416-458-5090 Email: vciarlo@idirect.com

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