Last week, we headed down the street to check out the Nine Rivers City exhibit at Harbourfront Centre. Nine Rivers City was produced by Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with Toronto and Region Conservation for The Living City, and generously supported by our friends at Menkes.

Nine Rivers City

The good folks at Harbourfront Centre commissioned six talented photographers to “capture the complexities” of the nine rivers across Toronto that all flow into Lake Ontario. The rivers involved in the project were Etobicoke Creek, Mimico Creek, Humber River, Don River, Highland Creek, Rouge River, Petticoat Creek, Duffins Creek, and Carruthers Creek.

The six artists were Vanessa Hussey, Surendra Lawoti, Jade Lee Portelli, Meghan Rennie, Aaron Vincent Elkaim, and Christopher Manson. Each artist was asked to focus on one of these four themes: River History, Nature and the River, River Landscape, or People of the River,

An exploration into the rivers across Toronto means essentially rediscovering how this city came to be. Patrick MaCaulay, the curator of Nine Rivers City, puts it best in the exhibit brochure: “It’s impossible to think of any cultural or economic activity flourishing without a river at its beginning.”

Menkes’ Harbour Plaza and One York Street

We think it’s great that Menkes is getting involved in the neighbourhood in which they are building. With Harbour Plaza Residences in preconstruction and One York Street underway just up the street, Menkes and Harbourfront Centre are going to be neighbours!

Adam Menkes spoke at the Nine Rivers City exhibit on behalf of the company: “Like our waterways, Menkes Developments has been a part of nearly every region of the GTA with our Energy Star housing communities, green inspired condominiums, and LEED certified commercial buildings. We’ve been creating Life Storeys for the past 60 years, and we’re thrilled to add this initiative into our company’s story. Menkes has been a big believer in this area of the city. We completed our 25 York Street project in 2009, and now we’re continuing our presence in the south core with our upcoming One York Street office tower, a joint project between ourselves and HOOPP, and our future condominium development called Harbour Plaza Residences. So on behalf of Menkes Developments, we are pleased to call Harbourfront Centre and the Nine Rivers exhibit our new neighbours, and look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Harbour Plaza will feature two soaring towers, one reaching 65 storeys and the other 69, and will feature more than 1,200 suites. Harbour Plaza will have direct access to Toronto’s PATH system, connecting the residents to all the shops, offices, and transit options that lie to the north.

Check out Nine Rivers City

Nine Rivers City is now open to the public, so we highly recommend heading down to Harbourfront Centre and checking it out. There’s quite a bit of construction going on along the street, so we suggest parking nearby and taking a nice walk over to the exhibit at 235 Queens Quay West.

Stay tuned for Harbourfront Centre and Toronto and Region Conservation’s second project, “No Flat City,” coming June 2014.

To check out more of our photos from the opening of Nine River City, visit our Facebook album!