Five years ago, U of T launched the Landmark Project. See our progress!

May 10, 2022
A large flower bed, under trees, is covered with plants in pots, waiting to be transplanted. Workers dig in the background.

The Landmark Project has made great progress thanks to the generous support of thousands of alumni and friends.

Launched five years ago with a generous $1-million gift from the University of Toronto Alumni Association, the project has enjoyed tremendous support.

We are pleased to offer you a snapshot of our ongoing efforts to make Front and Back Campus more pedestrian-friendly, create new green spaces, improve accessibility, and significantly reduce U of T’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Whitney Walk and Sir Daniel Wilson Quadrangle

Whitney Walk and Sir Daniel Wilson Quadrangle have been rejuvenated with beautiful trees, gardens, and new granite pathways, enhancing these iconic spaces and creating a more welcoming and accessible thoroughfare between Front and Back campus.

A small digger with a drill attachment sits on a bare earth walkway, lined with construction fencing.
Whitney Walk (April 2021)
Workers kneel on a flower bed transplanting plants out of pots. Beside them is a partially built pathway and pile of stones.
Sir Daniel Wilson Quadrangle (Summer 2021)
A wide pathway, paved with stone tiles, runs over a lawn between trees.
Sir Daniel Wilson Quadrangle (Sept. 2021)
A row of circular bike stands beside a paved walkway on Hoskin Ave.
New pavers and bicycle stands on Hoskin Ave. (April 2022)
Two wooden benches sit beside a wide pathway. The path is paved with stone tiles and crosses a lawn under trees.
New pavers and benches at University College (April 2022)

Front Campus

The Landmark Project is recapturing the original spirit of Front Campus and King’s College Circle by creating a greener, more walkable and accessible campus environment for people of all ages and mobility needs.

The installation of Canada’s largest urban geothermal field beneath King’s College Circle will save an estimated 15,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, making a significant contribution to greening the campus.

The introduction of new granite pathways dotted with beautiful gardens and generous seating, and the dramatic reduction in vehicle traffic will transform the Circle into a beautifully integrated and more sustainable green space, befitting U of T’s standing as one of the world’s great universities. The space will continue to serve as the thriving hub of campus life for generations to come.

President Meric Gertler and other U of T executives sit and stand on a parked backhoe and enormous pile of earth.
U of T leaders’ site visit (Spring 2020)
On a construction site, three cranes in a row are poised, holding large vertical shafts pointed at the ground.
Drilling geothermal boreholes (Spring 2021)
A large space dug into front campus is lined with tall concrete walls.
King’s College Circle (December 2021)
Workers standing on cranes are lifted above deep snow to work on a wall of rebar.
Construction continues despite the snow (January 2022)
A forest of concrete pillars rise up out of a construction site. Convocation Hall can be seen in the background.
Pillars in place at King’s College Circle for below-ground parking (April 2022)

Hart House

A revitalized Hart House landscape will include a series of interconnected paths, new seating areas and gardens, serving as a space for quiet moments of conversation, study, and reflection. Hart House Circle is being reconfigured to create “The Grandchildren’s Garden,” generously supported by The Honourable David Peterson and Shelley Peterson, and a new plaza at the existing observatory.

Hart House Green is in the process of being redeveloped as the Indigenous Landscape project, paying tribute to the Indigenous nations that lived alongside Taddle Creek, while creating a gathering space for Indigenous students, faculty and community members.

Earth bulldozed into a pathway outside the front of Hart House.
Ground preparations (Summer 2021)
Earth has been dug away around the base of the old observatory, and you can see a new protective coating on the foundation.
Protecting and preserving our heritage buildings (Summer 2021)
The area in front of Hart House is half paved, half bare earth. Construction workers are laying more stones.
Crews laying paving stones (Sept. 2021)
Mature trees on a green lawn are surrounded by wooden fences, each painted with a mural. Text on mural: Protect the sacred.
Murals by Indigenous artists focus on the preservation of life
Snow dusts a beautiful pavement of differently shaded granite paving stones at the east end of Hart House.
The new granite pathways leading to Hart House (January 2022)

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

The Medical Sciences district is being transformed with new amenities and enhancements, including new gardens and green spaces, a revitalized courtyard, and The University of Toronto Students’ Union Welcome Path, a new accessible ramp connecting the Queen’s Park subway to campus.

These enhancements will make the area even more beautiful, inclusive, and inviting for students, faculty, staff and the wider community. These elements, together with many more enhancements, will transform our open spaces into much greener, more accessible and socially dynamic places.

Looking out at Queen's Park, the floor of the passageway through the Medical sciences building is a grid of rebar.
Shoring columns and laying rebar (Summer 2021)
A graded ramp of earth slopes up from Queen’s Park to the Medical Sciences Building entrance.
Levelling ground for pavers (Nov. 2021)
Snow covers the construction area in front of the Medical Sciences Building east entrance.
University of Toronto Students’ Union Welcome Path (Dec. 2021)
In a courtyard, interestingly shaped rocks sit in a garden of green plants, beside an area paved with small tiles.
The revitalized courtyard features new plantings and pavers (September 2021)

Tower Road

Beautiful greenery and the installation of granite pavers along Tower Road serve to elevate the pedestrian corridor bfacing the Back Campus fields. The newly named Scace Walk, which leads from Hoskin Avenue to the new RG MacDonald Plaza at the Soldiers’ Tower, features a granite pathway and new bleachers provide a comfortable place to socialize and enjoy sporting events.

Construction workers have stripped the corridor along the west side of the Back Campus field to bare earth.
Preparations at Scace Walk (May 2021)
Newly laid paving stones line the long walkway leading beside Back Campus field to the Soldiers’ Tower.
A fresh view of Tower Road (Sept. 2021)
Workers on top of a half-finished bleacher stand – half poured concrete benches, half still covered in scaffolding.
Installing new bleachers (Dec. 2021)
Scace Walk and Tower Road run in parallel beside the Back Campus field, with bleachers between facing the field.
New walkway and paver installation continues on Tower Road beside Scace Walk (April 2022)

As construction on the Landmark Project continues, we’re excited and energized to see the incredible transformation coming to life. Thank you for your continued support and interest in this historic initiative.

Originally posted by the Landmark Project

Explore related campaign priorities: Build inclusive cities & societies Create a sustainable future Enable healthy lives