A historic and long-neglected pavilion located along the Humber River Trail in Etobicoke will be the subject of a revitalization project.

The Oculus Pavilion, a relic of Space Age-era architecture designed by architect Alan Crossley and built in 1959, has gone largely unused for several years and is now covered in graffiti, says Stephanie Mah, vice-president of the Architectural Conservancy Ontario (AGO) Toronto branch.

“It looks neglected. When people walk by, they don’t really pay attention to it anymore,” she said.

On Thursday, the ACO announced it will begin a yearlong revitalization of the pavilion in partnership with Giaimo Architects, through funding from a national charity called Park People.

Mah said the project will involve cleaning the space and adding fixtures such as lights, public art and outdoor seating to encourage public use.

During the revitalization, a series of activities and programming will go on, such as walking tours, design workshops and art installations.

“We want to turn this into a welcoming gathering place for people,” Mah said. “When people see neglected spaces, they aren’t sure if they can use it or if they should approach it. With this project we figured it would be a cool opportunity to make it a space that people want to use again.”

The goal of the project is also to conserve a piece of history, Mah said.

The Oculus, resembling a flying saucer, was created at the beginning of the Space Age, when the world became transfixed with space exploration. A hole in the middle of the circular covering creates a ring of sunlight that flows through the structure, originally positioned to highlight a sculpture of a bird that has since gone missing.

“It’s a really interesting piece of work,” Mah said. “The hole in the centre gives it great acoustics, and I’ve heard that people used to perform in the pavilion because of the sound it would create.”

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A city-planned refurbishment of the pavilion in 2016 was met with criticism and a change.org petition launched by the ACO that argued the plan, which proposed demolishing the public washrooms and wrapping the steel posts of the structure with stone cladding, would “negatively alter portions of the structure.”

The city delayed the refurbishment indefinitely in October of that year.

The ACO and Giaimo Architects took over the project this year, after receiving funding from Park People’s public space incubator grant.

“This is an exciting project. For one, it’s a stunning and unique park building that I think people often wonder about, and it’s also a nice test case for taking a building that’s been historically neglected and figuring out a new way of using it for people,” said Jake Tobin Garrett, manager of policy and planning at Park People.

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The revitalization is one of five projects chosen by Park People for the grant, which offers up to $50,000 and requires projects be completed by fall 2020.

Garrett said the grant is intended to spur “new ways of thinking about how we bring people together in public spaces.”

“We have a number of neglected park buildings all over the city. With the (Oculus Pavilion) project, we can point a way forward for how we revitalize these pavilions and clubhouses and park buildings to put them to good use for the community.”