Villiers Island is an island being built in Toronto's Portlands. It is a parcel, bounded by what is now the Keating Channel, and a new channel. The island lies on former industrial land, first created through landfill, and the plan includes the preservation of some buildings considered to have heritage value. These will either be moved to higher ground, or left in declivities, when additional landfill will be used to raise the ground level two metres in the event of rare extraordinary flooding. Cherry Street will be realigned, and new bridges will be constructed. More recent structures will be demolished. The island is located on a portion of the marsh once known as "Ashbridge's Bay", which had been the original natural mouth of the Don River. The entire Portlands had been a marsh, enclosed by the same large sandbar that formed the Toronto Islands. By the turn of the 20th century, the marsh had become polluted, and the city filled it with landfill, and devoted it to industrial purposes. Some of the early twentieth century landfill was also polluted, contaminated with heavy metals or toxic chemicals. The industrial enterprises were also polluting, including acres of petroleum tank farms and berms of road salt. The city had also canalized and straightened the lower reach of the Don River, so it flowed straight for from Bloor/Danforth to what is now Lake Shore Boulevard, where it made a right hand turn and ran west in what was called the Keating Channel. Early in the 21st centurysuggestions were made that attempts should be made to "naturalize" the mouth of the Don River. A second channel will be excavated. The second channel will have natural curves, and will have more natural banks, with natural plants that could provide habitat for migrating birds and wildlife. The second channel will empty into Toronto Harbour at what is now the Polson slip. The Keating Channel had mooring for multiplefreighters. Plans for Villiers Island included adding more natural looking curves on the Keating Channel's southern bank. Plans show a greenbelt, and parkland, surrounding the developed center of the Island.
