New public spaces are in the works in Toronto. The City has announced that a new recreation centre and library branch are now under construction near Bayview and Sheppard Avenues in North York, the first to be named in collaboration with the Huron-Wendat Nation.

The new facilities are set to open in early 2023, along with a massive new development called Concord Park Place, which will be home to 20 residential towers and 10,000 residents.

The location of the new site has a lot of significance for the Huron-Wendat Nation. According to the City, it’s adjacent to a Huron-Wendat archaeological site where it’s been discovered that its inhabitants “lived long and healthy lives in relative peace.”

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Image via City of Toronto

The street itself is called Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Lane, which is a Wendat word for “where they had a good, beautiful life.”

Also being planned at the site is an Indigenous public artwork display, as well as historical and cultural interpretative content about this meaningful site.

“We thank Mayor Tory and the City of Toronto Councillors for their recognition of the immense heritage left by our ancestors at ‘Ethennonnhawahstihnen’, a place where they had a good and beautiful life,” said Chief Rémy Vincent, the Grand Chief, Huron-Wendat Nation, in a news release.

“This is a sign of what true reconciliation is all about.”