Toronto's Beaches: an incredible past

Year's ago Sunnyside Beach was a premiere amusement park, boasting one of the largest roller coasters in North America. In the 1950's the amusement park was forfeited for the creation of the Gardiner Expressway that severed the Parkdale community from the lakeshore. The roller coaster ended up at Disneyworld.

Today in the Parkdale-High Park community, signs against swimming in Sunnyside Beach and Sir Casimer Gzowski Park Beach are too common a sight. In the hot months of July and August you are more likely to see "Unsafe for Swimming" signs posted, than bathers in the water.

Toronto's Eastern Beaches, growing from a cottage community into a city neighborhood, have a similar history of being the center of attention in community life.

These are but a few of the beaches that exist along Toronto's sandy shores. Lost are Olympic Beach once on Toronto Island and 4 other beaches permanently closed along the Western lakeshore between Sunnyside and Marie Curtis Park Beach.