Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Bonar Creek

Bonar Creek, which is a tributary of Mimico Creek, had its headwaters just north of Superior Creek and flowed in a southeasterly direction until it joined up with the main watercourse at its vast wetland at Lake Ontario.

It continued to flow until about 1950, when most of it was placed in a sewer and parts of its former watercourse was filled in and topped with warehouses and a sewage treatment plant. In 1957, the operators of the McGuiness Distillery, which was located east of Grand Avenue – now the Mystic Pointe development - began to fill in the remainder of the creek’s ravine in order to construct a number of warehouses north of Manitoba Street.

Today only the lower portion of the creek below the CNR rail line flows above ground though it has been channelized.

However, restoration of the creek is in process.  The Bonar Creek Bonar Stormwater Management Facility and Legion Road Extension Municipal Class Environmental Assessment will result in the restoration of the wetland that historically existed in this location.

Confluence of Bonar and Mimico Creeks 1889 - Archives of Ontario

1 comment:

  1. I had no idea this creek existed. Although sometime it would create skating rinks in the winter.

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