Sugar Beach Park

Sugar Beach Park sits on Toronto's waterfront beside the working Redpath Sugar Refinery, whose scent still drifts across the shore. The guide traces how landscape architect Claude Cormier transformed a cracked parking lot into a beach, drawing inspiration from a Georges Seurat painting of bathers on an industrial riverbank outside Paris. You'll hear about the truckloads of sand, the willows, and the rock-candy-striped boulders scattered along the water. Listen for how the neighboring refinery shaped every design choice, from color to texture.