Makeover for Barnardo Park to start in the fall

Barnardo Park is getting a number of new features this fall, including a splash pad and new play structures.

Barnardo Park is on Barnardo Ave., just northeast of Clarke Dr.

The wading pool there is being replaced with a splash pad and the aging play structures will be replaced too.

Construction on the project is starting this fall (so the park won’t be under construction in the summer).

The design was unveiled to the public at a meeting at Queen Alexandra Community Centre on Thursday night. About 15 citizens attended. Coun. Dave Haacke was there. “We’ve had nothing but positive comments all night – especially from landowners whose properties abut the park,” he said.

Gillian Barnes, the city’s project manager for facilities, said the cost of the project is $600,000: The city is paying half and the province is paying half.

In late January, the city was told it’s getting a provincial grant from the Ontario 150 Program.

That’s a fund for capital projects, in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday; the program is administered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

To be eligible, the city had to provide matching funds. Barnes said council had already budgeted $300,000 for the park, with the intention of replacing the wading pool with a splash pad.

The new splash pad is expected to be similar in size to the one at King Edward Park (on George St. S., near the YMCA).

With the grant, the city can also do the following work at Barnardo Park, in addition to installing the splash pad: Install new play structures. Resurface the gravel parking lot next to the tennis court. Add a new, paved pathway from the splash pad to the parking lot (it will run along The Parkway corridor and then east to Barnardo Ave.).

The existing tennis courts, baseball diamond and basketball court will remain.

The revamped park is expected to be ready for use in spring.