a photo of Harlan's beach in Toronto

Backlash over proposed event space near site of city’s only nude beach on Toronto Island

by Ron Johnson for Post City Posted: February 21, 2023

What is likely going to be a fiery and well-attended virtual meeting over the development of Hanlan’s Point and a potential new permanent event space is scheduled for Feb. 23 with an in-person workshop to follow on Feb. 27 at The 519 community centre.

The city seems to have scheduled the virtual meeting ahead of the in-person in an apparent attempt to tamper the backlash.

“We want the in-person workshop to be a productive place where we can have a conversation with beach users and the LGBTQ2s+ community and advance, workshop and edit the ideas being proposed for this community space,” read the meeting notice from Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation. “We think it’s important to host a virtual public meeting ahead of the workshop to address those misunderstandings and to answer questions from the community and hear their concerns, including those related to the proposed event space at Hanlan’s.”

Hanlan’s is the city’s only nude beach, and a touchstone for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

A group dubbed Hands Off Hanlan has emerged in defence of the area that it has declared to be “Canada’s oldest queer space,” in a local media report.

The idea of an event space came about as part of a new master plan being developed for the entire Toronto Islands. And, it’s just an idea, according to a city planner working on the project who took to Twitter in an attempt to dispel what he referred to as “misinformation” regarding the possible space.

“There was a lot of misinformation & alarm this week online about the Hanlan’s event space. In retrospect, it’s clear we didn’t engage the Hanlan’s community enough, which was an unfortunate mistake on my part given my deep love for and connection to the place,” wrote Daniel Fusca, on Twitter.

Downtown city councillors Ausma Malik and Chris Moise issued a joint statement on Feb. 17.

“Torontonians know and recognise Hanlan’s Point, Canada’s oldest continuous queer space, to be a safe, public, and precious place that has deep meaning and connection to Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ community,” the statement read, in part.

“We have seen the important concerns expressed about the Toronto Island Park Master Plan and specifically the future of Hanlan’s Point that are being voiced online. We have reached out to the organisers, and look forward to working together to address these concerns. The Toronto Island Park Master Plan is not yet finalised, and there are opportunities to improve the outcome of this process.”

The Island Master Plan process got underway in October 2020 with the acknowledgement that the “park has faced pressures, including increased demand, aging infrastructure and flooding.” According to the city of Toronto website, the planning process is in stage 3 which involves finalising the plan and plotting a course forward to set it in motion with final refinements scheduled for this summer.

Last November, the city hosted an open house at Canoe Landing Community Recreation Centre to present its latest update. The presentation included design panels showing extensive refurbishment of the Hanlan’s Point area as well as Hanlan’s Landing at the ferry dock and the beach area.

One panel dedicated to the event space read, in part: “The Master Plan recommends formalizing the already enjoyed event lawn at Hanlan’s, this new sloped lawn will allow for the installation of critical infrastructure to support festivals and events in a sustainable way on the Island.”

There has long been a traditional and informal space for events in the area, so the city seems intent on providing the space and infrastructure to make it work more formally.

“This space would formalize a use that’s been happening for more than 10 years at Hanlan’s. It would primarily include a power source but it could include a sloped lawn & some more defined edges. New pathways could help define it. It would remain public when not permitted,” wrote Fusca, of the site.

The concerns seem to be about making sure Toronto’s queer community has a voice in what happens at Hanlan’s because with more formal structure, business and popularity at Hanlan’s come threats to what it means and its function within that group and the potential to get pushed out.

Considering Fusca also expressed hope that people wouldn’t “crash the event” scheduled for Feb. 27, there is clearly still quite a bit of concern regarding what is happening at Hanlan’s.

He also admitted to the CBC that the city could have done a better job consulting the 2SLGBTQ+.

“We probably could have engaged further with Hanlan’s Beach users. That is clear based on the feedback we’re getting,” he told CBC.

Stay tuned.

BACK TO HOME