Mulock Park News and Updates

We’re in the home stretch to create Mulock Park, set to be a new community hot spot when it opens later this summer. More than 90% of the work is complete and the Town is preparing for opening the park including Mulock House, five other buildings, and more than 16 acres of green space.

Here’s what’s happening on site:

• Buildings are nearly complete. The exterior work is complete, equipment is installed, utilities are connected, and we are starting up the mechanical and electrical systems.
  
  
• House restoration is taking final form: exterior finishes have been lovingly restored. Interior finishes like paint, plaster, and flooring are underway. The veranda is complete, with two levels of outdoor space. The new glass vestibule, which includes an elevator, is visible from Mulock Drive.
  
  
• Grading is complete and sod is in progress across the three lawns, we call the West Lawn (formerly the Jim Bond Park area), Heritage Lawn and Great Lawn.
  
  
• Plantings are underway. The naturalization plantings in the forest are done, the last of the trees are being planted, and the gardens are taking shape. Some areas will remain protected to help establish the ecosystem to create a healthy habitat for birds, bees, butterflies and wildlife.

Coming up:

• Installing the new elevator to make all three levels of Mulock House accessible.
  
  
• Finishing the entry bridge deck and railings to welcome visitors from the corner of Yonge Street and Mulock Drive. Much work has been done to establish a new, primary pedestrian entrance, building on the existing water area to foster a natural marsh-type space, with an accessible steel entry bridge to guide guests into the park.
  
  
• Establishing the Great Lawn with fresh sod: placing a carpet of green in this beautiful 2 acre open area.
  
  
• Turning on the riverine water feature to create a trickling brook parallel to Yonge Street.
  
  
• Completing the Heritage Lawn (west of Mulock House), finishing the boardwalk surrounding it and a modern reconstruction of the historic Dunington-Grubb garden features with trellises, a reflecting pool and fountain, flagstone paths, and gardens. Peonies from the Mulock’s garden have been nurtured in a temporary nursery during construction and will be replanted in these historic gardens, reflecting the past and future of the property. At one point in the more recent Mulock history, the peony beds were said to have spanned over fifty feet west of the house, and were prominent among the many notable plants in the beautiful gardens.
  
  
• Installing wayfinding signage at the park entrances and throughout the site to guide guests.
  
  
• Completing installation of public art embedded throughout the site.

Once construction is complete, the Town will move in and prepare the site to welcome the community.

• The Town’s forestry team has inventoried all trees and has been monitoring tree health. Unfortunately, some trees were damaged during the recent severe storm of July 3. The team will conduct standard maintenance work to manage tree health and public safety, including tree pruning, supportive cabling and limited selective tree removal, to ensure the site is safe for guests.
  
  
• The Mulock Drive and Yonge Street parking lot entrances will be opened, and the Mulock Multi-Use Path re-opened. In addition to transit and multi-use path links, there are 40 parking spaces at the Mulock Drive Parking Lot, and more than 200 spaces at the Yonge Street Parking Lot.
  
  
• The Art Gallery of Ontario will install the first exhibit featuring works from its collections of Canadian and Indigenous art.
  
  
• Local catering company, A Million Mouthfuls Catering will develop the menu and set-up operations for the Chickadee Café, located on the first floor of the Mulock House (learn more here)

As we get closer to the finish line, the Town looks forward to announcing the date of the grand opening celebrations, a full weekend filled with activities for the whole community.

📷Designers walk the Woodland Loop, which awaits final plantings and guardrail.

Grading in progress on the Great Lawn which will be a gorgeous green-grass oasis when the park is complete. Visitors can sit on the boulders and dip their toes into the Riverine. A second floor bedroom converted into part of the gallery space which will feature works from the Art Gallery of Ontario. The original fireplace has been kept in place and you can see a glass guard added to the restored windows to meet modern safety standards while maintaining the original look.

New trees planted next to the Glass Hall greenhouse conservatory. When it’s in full bloom, guests will walk through the trellis arbour into a raised garden.

The vision for Mulock Park was born from the voices of thousands of residents who participated in a community-wide engagement process in 2020. Together, they imagined a destination that would bring people together through culture, recreation, nature, and community connection. Among the strongest and most consistent themes was a call for food service to help make the park a community destination.

Today, the Town of Newmarket announces a partnership with A Million Mouthfuls Catering, a local company rooted in the community, which will operate the Chickadee Café within the historic Mulock House, a key feature of Mulock Park.

The Town conducted an extensive open and competitive bid process to secure an independent operator to run the café within Mulock House, a Town facility.

“The Town reviewed applicants from across Ontario as part of the procurement process, with A Million Mouthfuls being the successful proponent,” says Ian McDougall, Chief Administrative Officer. “By partnering with a local catering company, we're investing in local entrepreneurship while creating a warm and inviting gathering space that complements the natural beauty and community spirit of Mulock Park.”

The Chickadee Café will be situated on the main floor of the Mulock House, with seating inside and outside on the veranda, overlooking the great lawn. Mulock House is equipped with a full kitchen, a café counter and the capacity to support catered special occasions at the park.

“We're thrilled to be a part of the Town's monumental Mulock Park and to have the opportunity to bring the Chickadee Café to life, to create a space where the community will flock, where every season is celebrated and everyone is welcomed with warmth,” says Anne-Marie Millions, owner of A Million Mouthfuls Catering.

The storied private residence has intrigued the community for generations and will soon be open to the public to enjoy. Designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, the former home of the Mulock family is being preserved, updated, and re-imagined with a café, lounge in Sir William Mulock’s library, gathering spaces and an art gallery in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

The café’s name is inspired by the Black-capped Chickadee, a familiar bird found year-round in Newmarket’s parks, trails and neighbourhoods. Known for its curious nature, cheerful call and adaptability through Ontario’s changing seasons, the chickadee reflects the warmth, community and welcoming spirit envisioned for the café experience at Mulock Park.

The Mulock Park Project is the town’s most significant capital project and will become one of Newmarket’s largest parks and public gathering spaces, delivering much needed greenspace and amenities to a growing community. Mulock Park is expected to open late this summer with grand festivities for the community to take part in. Stay tuned for an announcement with the opening date.

PLANT Architects Inc. has been working on the Mulock Park project since 2019 when the firm was selected to create the masterplan and guide the work for the transformation of the former private estate into a public hub for culture, recreation and connecting with nature.

In this post, PLANT shares some insight from the Designer's Desk on another key feature - the Hollow Log Play Park.

Areas within the playground represent various parts of a fallen tree that generates new forest growth as it decays.
📷 Steven Evans Photography

Collectively, the playground’s zones represent a fallen tree, nurturing new forest growth as it decays. The tree’s tunnel-like hollow trunk can be climbed from inside or out; sculptures of giant mushrooms spring up where wood would break down and fertilize the soil; a big branch, split open down its centre, invites kids to pump water at one end and watch it flow through the channel and into the ground. (Thanks to Earthscape for beautifully and safely bringing our concept for the Hollow Log Play Park to life.)

Nearby, a stand of trees provides a quiet, shady spot to rest on a bench and cool off after tearing around the playground.

Kids can climb and swing from the ‘nest of branches’ play structure while their caregivers take a seat nearby. 📷Steven Evans Photography

PLANT Architects Inc. has been working on the Mulock Park project since 2019 when the firm was selected to create the masterplan and guide the work for the transformation of the former private estate into a public hub for culture, recreation and connecting with nature.

In this post, PLANT shares some insight from the Designer's Desk on a key feature - the Glass Hall, the park's new, four-season greenhouse conservatory.

The Mulock Park project is rapidly nearing completion. Contractors are working hard to open the park later this summer. To stay on track, the Contractors have scheduled limited work this Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26. As work advances toward opening, additional weekend work may also be scheduled. While we recognize that this is not the Town’s normal practice, this will take advantage of good weather, and promote timely completion so that we can enjoy the park at the earliest possible date.

The work for this Sunday consists of placing topsoil around the Skate Trail between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. The main impact is expected to be noise from earthmoving equipment. Engineering Services staff will be on-site to monitor and mitigate potential concerns such as mud tracking.

For more information, please check out https://www.heynewmarket.ca/mulockpark or contact us at Mulock Property mulockproperty@newmarket.ca

A temporary lane closure is planned for Jordanray Boulevard near Menczel Crescent starting Thursday, April 2 (weather permitting). A single lane with alternating traffic will be available from 7 am through 5 pm on Thursday, April 2, Monday, April 6, Tuesday, April 7, and Wednesday, April 8. Through traffic is permitted.

Both lanes will be open in the evening and overnight. The sidewalk and lanes will be fully open on the weekend (Friday to Sunday).

What’s happening?

Landscaping work is being done surrounding the sidewalk and leading into the Hollow Log Play Park.

We appreciate the neighbours’ patience and understanding while we continue to create the park.