Categories: Travel

An iconic railway bridge in Ontario is Canada’s first & only elevated park

Image via @elevatedpark/Instagram

From an iconic railway bridge to Canada’s first and only elevated park – quite the resume! The St. Thomas Elevated Park sits over the Kettle Creek valley, offering views, public art and trails, making it a perfect spot to visit on a nice day.

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From railway to elevated park

The St. Thomas Elevated Park was developed into Canada’s first elevated park, joining similar structures such as the High Line in Manhattan and the Boulevard Plantée in Paris, starting out as a bridge that carried the Michigan Central Railroad through St. Thomas

Once fully developed, the bridge stood the western edge of the area since 1929, a “recognized engineering marvel of its era which, at its peak carried some 50 trains each day, both freight and passenger.”

The railroad was abandoned in the mid 1990s, but to preserve the history of the structure the spot was turned into the elevated park that still stands today, opening in 2019.

Present day

The St. Thomas Elevated Park was built fully on community effort.

With the growing determination of local volunteers, work began on the bridge ahead of 2019.

Local artists donated sculptures and artworks, which were installed along the bridge while development was in progress.

Local companies eventually joined the efforts and offered to donate their time and money towards the project leading to the addition of benches, safety railings, wheelchair-accessible ramps and landscaped gardens.

Today, there are life-sized art installations for spectators to enjoy, created by local artists.

The park is open from 5:00 AM – 11:00 PM seven days a week so whether you live nearby or want to make a road trip, you have all day to stroll the 850 foot-long park.

Pretty cool to see a piece of history repurposed for something amazing.