No firehall for Inverlea Park: report
Chemong and Sunset would remain an option, council will hear Monday
City councillors will consider a new city staff report on Monday recommending that Inverlea Park be removed from the short list of sites being considered for the city’s new north end firehall.
It’s come to light that the city is obliged under a land trust agreement from 1890 to keep the riverside park at Dennistoun Avenue and Parkhill Road undeveloped, according to a new report from Fire Chief Chris Snetsinger.
“Given this information, staff recommend that this site be removed from the list,” states the report.
A Toronto-based consultant had recommended the site be considered for a new north-end firehall because it would allow quick response time across the entire north end and could easily allow boat access to the Otonabee River.
A firehall would have taken up about one acre of the eight-acre Inverlea Park, but Snetsinger’s report says the city is obliged to keep the entire park undeveloped forever.
The city is looking to replace its aging north-end Fire Station 2, located at 1558 Carnegie Ave. It was built in 1968 and has repeatedly flooded and been repaired, according to a city staff report from July. It’s inaccessible for people with physical challenges and doesn’t meet the current standards for modern fire stations.
The city hired Dillon Consulting to review city-owned sites where the new firehall could go. The firm narrowed the sites to three locations: The nowclosed Northcrest Arena on Marina Boulevard and two green spaces, Inverlea Park and Chemong and Sunset Park (at Sunset Boulevard and Chemong Road).
Some neighbours from the Dennistoun Avenue and Inverlea Street area have protested considering Inverlea Park,
which runs along the Otonabee River near Water Street and Parkhill Road.
Meanwhile other north-end neighbours have protested against considering Chemong and Sunset Park, which is near Walmart and has a recreational trail running through it.
The new report doesn’t recommend leaving out Chemong and Sunset Park, however: staff is recommending that it remain in contention, along with the Northcrest Arena property. A public consultation process is expected soon.
At a committee meeting being held electronically on Monday, city council’s general committee will make a decision about removing Inverlea Park from the list.
That decision must be ratified at a virtual city council meeting (at which citizens would be allowed to speak).
The next city council meeting is on Jan. 25.
In the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown this month, council and committee meetings will be held electronically and livestreamed on the city’s website. The livestreams are archived and can be viewed later.