Notes

A miscellany of news and events

nominations
The OALA Honours and Awards are the highest recognition the Association can bestow on its members and the general public. Each OALA member plays an important part in the integrity and success of the program by identifying and nominating deserving candidates for the various awards. OALA members are invited to nominate deserving fellow members and others for awards and honours, to be presented at the 2024 OALA Awards Ceremony. The multiple award categories and eligibility can be found at: oala.ca/OALA-Award-Nominations. The deadline for nominations is January 15th, 2024.

Call for Award nominations. IMAGE/ Courtesy of OALA

events
Join OALA’s annual fundraising Family Ski and Snow Day event at the Alpine Ski Club in Collingwood, Ontario, February 9, 2024. The event brings friends, family, and colleagues together for a day of winter fun while raising money for the universities of Guelph and Toronto endowment fund. Registration has already opened. Early bird pricing ends January 5th, and registration closes February 5th. For more information about the event and ticket pricing, check out: oala.ca/events.

Family Ski & Snow Day. IMAGE/ Courtesy of OALA

in memoriam
Richard (Rick) Moore, FCSLA
The OALA is saddened to announce the passing of Richard (Rick) Moore on August 5, 2023. Rick became a full member of the OALA in 1976 and retired in 2009. Rick was inducted as a CSLA Fellow in 2001. We have noted some of the information from his FCSLA biography below: Rick was born in Montréal, Quebec, and graduated from Michigan State University in Landscape Architecture in 1969. He undertook graduate studies at the University of Guelph from 1998 to 2000. During his 50-year career, he was based in Montréal, Toronto, and Collingwood. Rick’s career began with the construction of Expo ’67. He then worked in Montréal and Toronto for multidisciplinary firms. During this time he prepared the initial Master Plan for Forillon National Park, served as Municipal Advisor to the Dhofar Development Department in the Sultanate of Oman, and was responsible for the design of the Prince Arthur’s Landing waterfront development in Thunder Bay. In 1981 he opened his own firm with partner John George. Moore-George Associates Inc. provided consulting services primarily to the public sector from 1981 to 1997. Waterfront development, parks and open space, and urban design became the firm’s focus. They collaborated on several notable projects including the North Bay and Kenora waterfront developments, Port Credit Harbour, and Toronto’s SkyDome (Bobbie Rosenfeld Park). At the time, waterfront redevelopment was a new frontier in Ontario, and Rick played an important role in promoting and transforming derelict lands to create important public realms. Moving to the resort community of Collingwood, Ontario in 1997, Rick started a landscape design-build firm. He was also responsible for the landscape design of Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. Rick was elected to the OALA Council in 1985 and served as President from 1986-87, immediately after the passing of the Landscape Architects Act. He served as CSLA President in 2005.

Richard Moore. IMAGE/ Courtesy of CSLA

David Tomlinson, OALA Emeritus, CSLA
The OALA is saddened to announce the passing of David Tomlinson, on September 8, 2023. David was a Full Member – Emeritus since 1999. He joined the OALA as a full member in 1976. David’s career began in England in 1964, where he held several positions as a landscape architect, before immigrating to Canada in 1973. He became a full OALA member in 1976. David’s career and post-retirement work exemplified the role of landscape architects as stewards of the landscape. David made a significant impact within the Town of Aurora. He worked tirelessly, documenting the flora and fauna of the Marsh Creek East Aurora Wetland Complex, which contributed to the province declaring the site a provincially significant wetland. His advocacy in protecting the area from development and his proposal for an urban wildlife park eventually led the Town of Aurora to name it the David Tomlinson Nature Reserve (2020). David served on the town’s Environmental Advisory Committee and various environmental working groups and was paramount in establishing the citizen science group Nature Aurora. He also steered the Aurora Community Arboretum with his master plan and countless volunteer hours. He was awarded an Ontario Lieutenant Governor Heritage award in 2011. His English cottage garden (Merlin’s Hollow) delighted many visitors as the gardens were open to the public every spring. David left a profound legacy in Aurora.

David Tomlinson. IMAGE/ Anna Lozyk Romeo 

Claude Cormier, OALA, FCSLA
The OALA is saddened to announce the passing of Claude Cormier on September 15, 2023. He joined the OALA as a full member in 2010. Claude Cormier was an active member of the OALA and supported the profession of landscape architecture in Ontario in many ways. He was a volunteer advisor to many young members. He also shared his vision with students through his lectures, books, and studio visits. He added to that support when he made a $500,000 commitment to his alma mater, the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto to support Master in Landscape Architecture (MLA) students. Claude was inducted as a CSLA Fellow in 2008, and, with his firm, won many awards, including the 2023 CSLA Jury’s Award of Excellence for The Ring in Montréal. In June, Claude celebrated the opening of the firm’s project, Love Park, in Toronto. From an announcement by his firm, CCxA: His lyrical, conceptual approach to designing public spaces leaves a colourful and deeply original imprint on North American cities. He is the creative force behind many of Montréal and Toronto’s best-loved public squares and urban parks—some of the most joyful and critically acclaimed in Canada, such as Place D’Youville and Dorchester Square, the Pink Balls and their 18 Shades of Gay, Clock Tower Beach, The Ring at Place Ville Marie, HtO Urban Beach, Sugar Beach, Berczy Park, and many others. His career began in the early 1990s with landscape art installations that shattered the conventions of landscape design in Canada, and with projects that deployed strong design narratives, the techniques of conceptual art, abstraction, and the bold use of colour. The recent renaming of his firm of 15 professionals to CCxA marked the passing of the torch to his long-standing collaborators Sophie Beaudoin, Marc Hallé, Guillaume Paradis, and Yannick Roberge.

Claude Cormier. IMAGE/ Will Lew

new members
Ontario Association of Landscape Architects is proud to recognize and welcome the following new members to the Association:
Madolyn Armstrong
Michael Boucher
Kira Burger
Christopher Calabrese
Hugh (Hui) Chen
Jude Gaboury
Stephanie (Graham) Goncalves
Adam Hoover *
Mike Hukezalie
Rosa Maria Jerez *
Lindsay Smith (née: King)
Taylor Kirsh *
Leigh Lichtenberg
Reesha Morar
Roderick Sean Nailer
Kristina Patterson
Adam Persi
Curtis Puncher
Alexandre Dos Santos
Gullivar Shepard
Joel Sypkes
Luke Van Tol
Jenny Trinh
Albertus Viljoen *
Kathleen Watson
Rachel Weston
Laura Wood

Asterisk (*) denotes Full Members without the use of professional seal.