Collavino Conservation Area officially opened to public

A ribbon cutting was held last Thursday to celebrate the opening of the new Collavino Conservation Area. It is located on North Side Road between Front Road North and Concession 2 North.

A dream over 20 years in the making came to fruition last Thursday morning.

The Collavino Conservation Area officially opened to the public May 21, with it being the idea of Loris Collavino and his family. The Collavino family owned the land with Loris Collavino stating that he fell in love with the idea of creating a public natural area when walking around the site as far back as 2005.

“When I first went around the wetland, I fell in love with it,” he said. “I knew it should be shared with the public. I’m glad this day has come.” 

The Collavino Conservation Area is located on North Side Road, just east of Front Road North (County Road 20) in Amherstburg. 

Loris Collavino (centre) speaks at the grand opening after presenting $50,000 to the Essex Region Conservation Foundation. At left is ERCA CAO Tim Byrne while ERCA chair Molly Allaire is at right.

The family donated the land to the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) at a ceremony in 2022. A year later, Collavino donated $100,000 to the Essex Region Conservation Foundation to help transform the land into a conservation area and create public amenities at the site.

As part of the ceremony last Thursday morning, Collavino made an additional $50,000 donation.

“I’m very, very pleased with the work they have done,” he said. “We are grateful that this donated land will be held in perpetuity to promote wetland conservation, education and public use.”

Collavino said “it makes sense that it should be open to the public” so that everyone can learn more about nature and experience it. He said it sets kids on a path to appreciate nature, with the first field trip to the site also being last Thursday morning as students from Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School in LaSalle came by for a tour.

Molly Allaire, chair of ERCA’s board of directors and an Amherstburg town councillor, said ERCA is very thankful to the Collavino family for their philanthropy.

“Celebrating the opening of Collavino Conservation Area on the eve of the United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity highlights the importance this place as habitat for vulnerable species and where communities can connect with, appreciate, and protect the natural world,” said Allaire. “It will be stewarded with the utmost care to ensure that it remains a treasured destination for our children, and our children’s children, to enjoy forever.”

Allaire outlined the Collavino family’s background in business in the Windsor-Essex County region, dating back to 1954 under brothers Rigo and Mario. By the mid-1970s, it was an international construction company and in 1975, the family started a precast concrete manufacturing company called Prestressed Systems Inc. They moved to River Canard in 1983 and enjoyed the surrounding environment and wanted to share it with others, with that being part of their philanthropic endeavors.

For Allaire, it also had a personal connection. She noted her family has farmed Collavino-owned land for over 25 years.

“This means so much to me,” she said.

Terry Patterson, chair of the Essex Region Conservation Foundation, also thanked the family and believed the wetland and the donation of lands met all the priorities the foundation supports.

The Collavino Conservation Area features a 2.2-kilometre mowed walking trail and shade structures with additional interpretive signage sharing the history and ecological importance of the area to be added in the coming weeks. ERCA says a portable classroom donated by the Collavino family is also planned for renovation to support future school programming. Longer-term plans for the conservation area include a small memorial forest, a potential canoe and kayak launch, and a viewing tower overlooking the wetland.

Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue recalled attending the site when the property was first donated to ERCA. He said he thanked Collavino for his donation, noting it will be a wonderful addition to Amherstburg generations to come. 

“We are very proud in Amherstburg to have it here,” said Prue. “It’s a little bit of paradise, right at home.”

LaSalle Mayor Crystal Meloche said projects like the Collavino Conservation Area are important to help people slow down, get outside, connect with nature and spend time with family and friends. After expressing her thanks, Meloche said the area is fortunate to have the site here.

Meloche said what makes it even more special is that it is a something that will help attract people to the region. She praised the work that went on to help bring this project to reality, including the Collavino family as well as ERCA and its staff and volunteers.

“Nature does not stop at municipal boundaries and neither does conservation,” said Meloche.

Marnie Pouget, chief of staff for Essex MP Chris Lewis, noted her own family’s love of the environment and that of Lewis. She said her husband grew up in River Canard.

Pouget added Lewis’ “deep desire to leave this world a better place than we found it” and believed the new conservation area helps achieve that. Tourism Windsor-Essex County CEO Gordon Orr also brought greetings, noting the importance of nature and the growing demand for it from a tourism perspective. He pointed out the growth and popularity of birding in the region.

“It’s fantastic,” ERCA CAO Tim Byrne added. “It still demonstrates how important local relationships are at the local watershed level.”

Byrne said ERCA and the Collavino family worked hard as they realized they had similar objectives. He said it is 150 acres of “very, very significant wetland.”

“They don’t make any more of this,” he said.

Byrne not only expressed thanks for the land, but the $150,000 in total donations thus far.

“It’s extremely important to maintain local accountability, local transparency and local relationship building,” he added. “This doesn’t happen when you get too big.”

In reference to the coming amalgamation of conservation authorities put in place by the province, Byrne added “we aren’t going anywhere” and that with local engagement and decision-making, this type of event will continue in the future.

Collavino Conservation Area officially opened to public

By Ron Giofu