New courts and trail approved for H Murray Smith Centennial Park

Town council approved new tennis courts, sports courts and trails for H. Murray Smith Centennial Park during its meeting last Monday night.

New amenities are officially coming to H. Murray Smith Centennial Park.

With the $1,060,000 that accumulated through the last two town budget cycles, Amherstburg town council agreed Monday night to fully construct two basic community use fenced tennis courts, two basic non-fenced sports courts with simple line painting and a 10-foot wide asphalt accessible multi-use trail in the H. Murray Smith Centennial Park inclusive of alternative options for additional fencing, site furnishings and colour coating for courts. The motion was passed in a 6-1 vote, with only Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb opposed.

North Star  High School, which was built on a portion of the parkland, was on hand to lend support for the project. The public high school was represented at the meeting by principal Kyle Berard, teachers Kary Coulson and Lisa Voakes, and a number of students.

Councillor Peter Courtney expressed enthusiasm about the project, stating while efforts to bring back the track never came to fruition, this was “a fun one” in terms of infrastructure projects to bring back. Courtney noted fundraising was done back in the day to create the S. Ralph McCurdy Track and Field complex and didn’t see why such an endeavour couldn’t be done today. He said he hopes “people can get excited” about the project and help generate even more money for the park’s revitalization.

Councillor Diane Pouget thanked Councillor Don McArthur and Courtney for helping to reallocate funds during budget deliberations for the project. She said there were split opinions on what to do with the money during online discussions, but noted the issue dates back eight years and involved the sale of a portion of the park for the high school. 

Pouget asked director of parks, facilities and recreation Heidi Baillargeon if this was a best case scenario, with Baillargeon stating public consultation was done on the park and options were devised.

“I do believe this satisfies a lot of the community’s needs right here in Amherstburg,” said Baillargeon.

Councillor Don McArthur said he was excited for the project to move ahead. He commented that it’s not easy to replace amenities that were lost in the park, and thanked the North Star High School representation, joking “it’s not every meeting where we are going to spend $1 million next to your school.”

The trail will allow for use for the long-term care home being built across Richmond St. as well as the school and the community as a whole, he indicated, adding the park is hard to access in the winter but the trail will help alleviate that.

Councillor Linden Crain also expressed excitement, also pointing out the long-term care home and high school.

“This council has made significant investments in recreation and parks this term,” he said. 

Crain added the new project at H. Murray Smith Centennial Park was “a good cap” for this term of council.

Councillor Molly Allaire said she initially ran for council to save parks and believed it would be “foolish” not to proceed. She also pointed out the list of park amenities council has put in this term. 

Roads and parks come from different funding sources, she explained.

“I’m super proud of it,” she said of the H. Murray Smith Centennial Park plan. “This is the icing on the cake.”

Gibb acknowledged that council has spent a lot on recreation, noting new playground equipment, the King’s Navy Yard Park extension, new pickleball courts, a new basketball court at Pat Thrasher Park and rehabilitated trails at Jack Purdie Park as examples. He said he voted no because money still has to be used on other items, citing Carnegie Library repairs, Gordon House repairs, a new roof at the Amherstburg Community Hub, roads and the question over what to do about the future of town hall.

“We still haven’t addressed that dilemma,” he said of the latter.

Gibb said he didn’t want to add another $1 million of infrastructure at this time.

“If we can’t afford to maintain the infrastructure we have, I can’t vote to add more infrastructure,” said Gibb.

The deputy mayor compared it to not being able to afford a mortgage but running up credit cards at the same time.

Mayor Michael Prue disagreed with Gibb, stating much of the money came from development charges and can’t be used for other initiatives anyway. Prue recalled the fight to keep the park and not have it sold off even further, stating “parks belong to the people.” 

“The people understood how important it was and still understand how important it is,” said Prue.

It falls to the town to put in courts and trails, he added, and to make it a welcoming place for the community. He credited council for moving the park ahead in the budget by five years.

“I thank council for making it a priority,” he said. “I will not vote not to do this. Not one person in six years has said to me ‘don’t spend money on the park.’”

New courts and trail approved for H Murray Smith Centennial Park

By Ron Giofu