Public open house held on parks master plan update

Trese MacNeil, manager of recreation services with the Town of Amherstburg, goes over one of the proposed master plans during a parks master plan open house May 5 at the Libro Centre.

The Town of Amherstburg is updating it's parks master plan and turned to the community last week for more public input.

Approximately 30 people came to the downstairs community room at the Libro Centre May 5 for the public open house. Town officials and consultants were on hand to answer questions from people that turned out during the five-hour event.

Cindi Roway, a landscape architect with Forrect Ltd., said she was hearing mainly positive comments from the community. She noted the plans includes parkland, waterfront property and civic gathering spaces. Some parks are further down the road than others, she pointed out.

A number of proposals for all 26 parks were pointed out, from cricket in Anderdon Park, to a civic plaza in Bill Wigle Park with a small sample of other ideas including beach volleyball and a boat ramp at Walter Ranta Park and more soccer fields and another turf baseball diamond at the Libro Centre.

Heidi Baillargeon, the town’s director of parks, facilities and recreation, said there are 26 parks within the Town of Amherstburg and there were concepts for all of them.

“We’ve got master plans based on the last round of consultations we’ve done,” she said. Baillargeon said user groups, council members, sports groups and the general public have been consulted. A similar open house was held last year but Baillargeon said the most recent one was more focused on what could go in the parks, based on the public input provided.

A ten-minute survey was put out to the public, with the town receiving 247 responses. Baillargeon said that was a good response to a survey.

The town’s last parks master plan was finalized in 2018. Baillargeon said it is ideal to update the plan every five to ten years.

“We look at all the comments on what do we need and where do we need it,” she stated.

Popular requests are washrooms, pathways and shade, she said.

There are already master plans finalized for some parks, Baillargeon pointed out, such as Jack Purdie Park, H. Murray Smith Centennial Park, and Co-An Park in McGregor.

“Not everything is done at once,” said Baillargeon, stating it would cost millions to build out everything as currently envisioned. Exact costs wouldn’t be known until projects are put out to tender, she said.

Examples of items that are being added to the town’s recreational amenities are the pickleball courts at the Libro Centre and the basketball court coming to Pat Thrasher Park.

Items would be put into the town’s annual budgets, she said, much of it based on the condition of current parks and amenities in them. 

The parks master plan is expected to come back before town council in July. Baillargeon noted it is being developed in conjunction with the Official Plan update, Strategic Plan and Accessibility Plan. 

Public open house held on parks master plan update

By Ron Giofu