STANDING HIS GROUND

WALTER KEHM HELPED LEAD THE REDEVELOPMENT OF TORONTO’S ONTARIO PLACE. NOW, HE’S ONE OF ITS FIERCEST OPPONENTS.

BY TIMOTHY A. SCHULER

On an overcast day in December 2023, Walter Kehm, FASLA, addressed a crowd of roughly 100 protesters on the West Island of Ontario Place in Toronto. Dressed in a slate-blue down jacket and tweed flat cap, the 86-year-old landscape architect and former director of the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph described the immense ecological value of the landscape around them. He also spoke of its historical importance as a seminal work of the late Michael Hough, one of Canada’s most celebrated landscape architects. In his comments, Kehm was frank in his criticism of the provincial government, led by Premier Doug Ford, and its plans to clear-cut the West Island, including 850 mature trees, to make way for a privately owned wellness resort. Opened in 1971, Ontario Place…

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Landscape Architecture (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2024

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