2019: WexPOPS
WexPOPS, a Scarborough ‘oasis,’ aims to prove what plaza spaces can be
By Mike Adler
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WexPOPS is a green “oasis” where you wouldn’t expect one.
Now, its creators want to see what you do there.
Part of the parking lot at Wexford Heights Plaza is now surrounded by 300 planters filled with vegetables and herbs, which will be given away — and wildflowers and grasses, which will grow in a nearby hydro field.
From now through Aug. 18, though, this experiment near a corner of Lawrence and Warden avenues is a place to relax in, and see performances by local musicians and artists.
As vans and taxis circled the installation on July 4, volunteers were putting WexPOPS together in time for this weekend’s Taste of Lawrence festival.
It will be cool to see how it gets used, said Chelsea Braun, who grew up near the plaza and helped fill in a mural by local artist Echo Railton as backdrop for a small wooden stage.
Twenty University of Guelph master of landscape architecture students worked on the project, sharing six designs which were voted on. “None of them were perfectly buildable,” Prof. Brendan Stewart said during the construction.
The result, really a hybrid, aims to prove that a POPS — a priviately-owned public space — in suburban plazas can be versatile and inviting.
People, particularly owners of plaza businesses, can see its potential, said Minaz Asani-Kanji, outreach manager for Park People, a nonprofit group that found funds for WexPOPS.
“It needs to bring business in. If they see it’s a money-maker, then I think they would be open to doing this,” added Asani-Kanji, a Scarborough resident on the project steering committee.
Local companies cut signs for WexPOPS and donated soil. The planters were old recycling bins that the university was throwing out.
On July 28 and Aug. 17, Scarborough Arts has booked performers for WexPOPS — and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority will lead walks to the emerging Meadoway linear park nearby.
The project team has hired eight young people to care for the plants and the rest of the installation.
Will parts of it be stolen?
Daniel Rotsztain, one of the project’s leaders, hopes that the obvious effort behind WexPOPS will make thieves think twice. But that, too, is part of the experiment.
Studying public life at the plaza, Rotsztain noticed many people come and “hang out in their cars,” never stepping outside.
This summer, that could change.
“The question is, will people get out of their cars to sit here?” Rotsztain asked.
