page_title: Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens / History
caption_attribution_description: Old Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens Gates English: Gates and monument (background) at the old location of Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens opposite the Yonge Street entrance to Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.
context_page_description: Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park was created in 1933 by public subscription to honour Alexander Muir, who composed the song "The Maple Leaf Forever". The park was originally located opposite Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Yonge Street, but was moved to its present location in 1951 due to the construction of the Yonge subway. Today the park is in Toronto's Lawrence Park neighbourhood south of Lawrence Avenue with an entrance on the east side of Yonge Street.
context_section_description: Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens was founded in 1933 but was originally located on the west side of Yonge Street across from Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where Muir is buried. Landscape architect Edwin Kay designed the original park using the maple leaf as a theme. The park was to celebrate Toronto's centennial in 1934 as well as to honour Muir. The park's creation was supported by public subscriptions.
  To make room for the construction of the Davisville subway yard, the Toronto Transportation Commission moved the park, including its stone walls and plants, to its current location starting in 1951. The cost of the move was over CA$100,000 (equivalent to $966,667 in 2018). The park at its present location was formally dedicated on May 28, 1952. Edwin Kay's formal, symmetrical design was replicated at the new location.
  The subway tunnel portal at the south end of the Davisville Yard is called the Muir Portal because of the park that used to be there.
  In 1990, an international jury declared Alexander Muir Memorial Gardens to be one of the best 25 urban design projects built before 1985 in Toronto.
caption: Gate and monument (background) located opposite Mount Pleasant Cemetery in 1935.
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