Outgoing principal dedicates a new, accessible path to the Highland Creek Valley

Outgoing principal Bruce Kidd dedicates a new, accessible path to the Highland Creek Valley
Professor Bruce Kidd speaking with U of T Scarborough's art gallery director Ann MacDonald. MacDonald sourced the U of T Scarborough gift a framed print titled, "This Painting is a Mirror" by artist Christi Belcourt. (Photo by Ken Jones)

Raquel A. Russell

A new path at U of T Scarborough will wind through the trees and improve access to the wilderness and trails of the Highland Creek Valley.

“I’m so pleased that we are going to open a much more accessible, beautiful and enjoyable path to our remarkable Highland Creek Valley and connect the upstairs campus into the wilderness below for faculty, staff and students and members of the public,” said Kidd at the ground-breaking ceremony on May 17.

The Highland Creek Valley serves an essential and functional role at U of T Scarborough by providing recreational spaces, campus views, naturalized areas and habitat, and serves as the location for important teaching and research. For Kidd, the valley also serves as a place of many happy memories –he attended summer camp there with his younger brother, Ross in the early 1950s, and later trained for marathons on the trails.

When appointed U of T Scarborough Interim Principal in 2014, he quickly learned that the steep path and dark woods during shorter days, made the route to that part of the campus feel unsafe. During the winter, ice and snow have forced closures for months on end.

The new four-season trail will be 500 metres long, and will have a slope of no more than a 5 per cent grade – making it more enjoyable for those with mobility issues.

The trail will feature a seven-tier amphitheatre on one end, and will be elevated in several places allowing people to feel as though they are right in the treetop canopy.

Elder Wendy Phillips will consult on planting along the path, ensuring that new vegetation will be native to the region and even offer opportunities for foraging.

The new path will feature resting areas, lookouts, seating, a continuous handrail, as well as lighting and other safety and security features. It has been designed to be universally accessible by meeting the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

An example rendering of the new accessible trail to the Highland Creek Valley.
An example of the what part of the new Highland Valley Creek trail will look like once completed. 

“Accessibility has always been built into the DNA of this campus,” said the Honourable David Onley, an alumnus,  senior lecturer and distinguished visitor in the Department of Political Science at U of T Scarborough.

Onley said that even in 1970, he attended the then Scarborough College because of its accessibility.

“Since that time, with each new building, standards have improved – Scarborough has kept pace,” he said. “This is very important because it allows us as in institution to keep pace with the changes of society and in fact in Scarborough, U of T Scarborough is a perfect example of the way the rest of the province and many other institutions should be proceeding in terms of accessibility.”

Onley recalled that when he began teaching at U of T Scarborough in 2015, Principal Kidd was a strong supporter and contributed creative ideas to Onley’s proposal for a course on accessibility and politics of disability.

“It’s tremendously appropriate that this event is being held and that it’s coinciding with Bruce’s departure,” said Onley. “And so, to you Bruce, thank you very, very much for your support and I look forward to taking this scooter down the trail.”

Principal Kidd is retiring at the end of July. At the ground-breaking, Onley, U of T Scarbrough Chief Administrative Officer Andrew Arifuzzaman and Traditional Elder Wendy Phillips presented Kidd with a framed print on behalf of the UTSC community. “This Painting is a Mirror” by Indigenous artist Christi Belcourt is described as reflecting back beauty, compassionate acts, generosity and gentleness.

“Bruce, there could not have been a more appropriate piece for us to present to you today,” said Arifuzzaman. “Your generosity of spirit, kindness, compassion and boundless energy is now part of the UTSC fabric.”