Urbanism
Studio
Aviation Toronto
I. DE HAVILLAND AIRCRAFT OF CANADA:
- Downsview has been a key hub for aviation and space innovation in Canada for over 85 years, impacting global air transport for more than 75 years. Once filled with landing strips and flying clubs, it remains one of about 10 global sites that design and build commercial aircraft and business jets. Downsview-built aircraft can be found in museums in over 50 countries. Its aviation history began in 1929 when Geoffrey de Havilland established his only Canadian aircraft factory on 70 acres of expropriated farmland, making Downsview a major supplier of government-owned aircraft in the 1930s.
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Aircraft designed and built in Downsview played a crucial role in helping the Allied Forces win World War II. After the war, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada achieved further milestones, including creating the iconic DHC-2 Bush plane. Downsview was also the birthplace of the Canadian Space Program, which made Canada the third nation in space. SPAR, the company behind the Canadarm, and STOL technology, were pioneered there. Additionally, De Havilland's Guided Missile Division, later renamed the Special Products Division, developed space technology like the STEM antenna after the Avro Arrow project was canceled.
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In 1963, the Special Products division at Downsview built the structure and antennas for the Alouette satellite, making Canada the third nation in space. When de Havilland acquired Avro Canada, this division merged with Avro's Canadian SPAR to form Canada's leading space company, all based in Downsview. In the 1980s, the government privatized de Havilland, and Boeing bought it in 1986. After a bribery scandal known as the "Airbus Affair," Boeing sold the company, and Bombardier Aerospace purchased it in 1992. The former De Havilland factory at 65 Carl Hall Road, one of only three surviving aviation heritage buildings in Canada, was saved from demolition in 2011 for a proposed hockey arena and repurposed as Centre for Aerospace Innovation. This partnership between Toronto's top colleges, universities, and aerospace companies opened its campus in May 2019 with government support. In 2018, Bombardier sold the 148-hectare site to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
II. CANADIAN FORCES BASE DOWNSVIEW:
- From 1952 to 1996, Downsview Park was a military base that functioned like a self-contained city, home to around 8,000 people. Canadian Forces Base Downsview had numerous amenities, including a gym, movie theatre, bowling alleys, a curling rink, canteens, a barber shop, and a beauty salon. It also housed a defense research medical lab associated with the University of Toronto, which conducted flight-related medical research and had a decompression chamber. Military base housing was located at the southwest corner of Keele and Sheppard and at the southeast corner of Keele and Downsview Park Boulevard. This area was known as Stanley Greene Park. The Officer's housing was found at the northeast corner of Keele and Sheppard (i.e. north of the Sheppard overpass).
- In 1954, the Royal Canadian Air Force built the #1 Supply Depot at 40 Carl Hall Road, designed to withstand a missile attack and equipped with a one-million-gallon stormwater reservoir for emergencies. The depot supplied the Canadian Armed Forces domestically and overseas. By 1995, urban development made it unsafe for larger aircraft to land, leading to the military base's closure. The land was repurposed for recreational and public use, splitting into Downsview Park, a 291-acre park, and the surrounding Downsview Lands, which are being developed into neighborhoods.
III. MOTH GARDENS (now Downsview Memorial Parkette):
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The gardens are inspired by Downsview's aviation history. A limestone sculpture in the garden references the first airplanes in Downsview—the Gypsy and Tiger Moths. The design is based on a 1920s photograph showing the word "MOTH" written on the turf next to the original Downsview airstrip.
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The sculpture in the park forms the letters M O T H from above, with stone sections serving as tables and seating. A vine-covered steel arbor on one side features aircraft references, and windsocks mark the eastern end of the park. Each letter of the sculpture is surrounded by different gardens—roses, annuals, herbs, and butterfly gardens—connected by walkways inspired by Italian Renaissance designs. Downsview Memorial Parkette, dedicated in 1946, honors local WWII veterans, with a dedication inscribed on a stone wall in the park.