The Province

Along with the university and the city, the Provincial Government also had an interest in Queen’s Park. Growth in the provincial administration combined with the increasingly poor conditions of the Front Street Legislative Building led the Province to pass a bill for the construction of a new Legislature on land acquired at the park. Following a poorly administered design competition, architectural plans were finally approved in the mid 1880s and work began. The result, after six years, was a truly grand structure the likes of which the people of Toronto had never seen. The local press nicknamed it the Pink Palace, referring to its sandstone exterior, and people flocked to it on opening day. Although accepted with pride by its citizens, the structure’s central placement divided the park. Its addition, however, would shape public use of the site over time. Formal gatherings in front of the Legislature such as military parades and Dominion Day celebrations brought many thousands of people to the south grounds, while activities such as concerts in the bandstand and Sunday preaching drew many to the north park. Aside from driveways added in front of and around the Legislature, little formal landscaping was undertaken. Thanks to this, the area retained much of its natural condition. Queen’s Park had changed and was evolving along with a new public purpose.