George Avenue Park set for contemporary rebirth
People who’ve missed George Avenue Park after it was shut down and turned into a 35-million-litre underground water reservoir are getting back a much-improved park.
Created in 1927, the park at George and Wyandotte Street East was transferred to Windsor Utilities Commission in 2016 for $568,000 with conditions requiring that the land would be “revitalized” back to a park once the reservoir was built. With the reservoir now installed and operating, covered with grass, it’s time for George Avenue Park to be reborn. Officials say the result will be a much better park that will draw plenty of users.
“You’re going to have a much larger trail system, better park lighting, a sports court. You’re going to have a new modern playground, better parking than there ever was, so it’s definitely a lot of upgraded features,” said James Chacko, the city’s senior manager of parks. “It’s going to be a more contemporary park space than it was previously.”
The previous version of the park was very basic, with a small playground in the northern section and an expanse of grass with a little-used ball diamond in the southern section.
The revitalization plan goes to council in about a month. If approved, tenders will be issued and the successful bidder will start work with a goal of having the work completed so people can start using it later this year, said Chacko.
The reservoir is located in the back southern two-thirds of the 6.1-acre park. That section will have “densely planted” trees, benches, lighting and a 10-footwide perimeter trail circling the reservoir, all paid for by WUC.
The smaller section fronting Wyandotte is where more activity will happen. The city, which has an easement for that section, will use the $568,000 from WUC, plus $120,000 extra for inflationary costs, to build the sports court, a shelter and concrete pad, a parking lot, pathways, sidewalks, benches, landscaping and lighting. It will also install an impressive playground, taking $340,100 from a $6.8-million fund established in 2017 to replace deficient playgrounds in 28 parks.
While nearby riverfront parks are more passive with walkways and captivating views, this park will be an active neighbourhood park, said Chacko.
“This is going to be a nice one that serves the community. And we certainly had a number of people interested in the progression of the utility company completing things, so I think it will be very well used.”
Ward 5 Coun. Ed Sleiman believes people will be really happy when they see the end result.
“It’s good for everyone,” he said of the reservoir/park project. “It’s good for the taxpayer, it’s good for the water users and it’s good for the community.”
He said the old park was used, but not to its full potential because it didn’t have many amenities. The trail around the reservoir will be an attraction for the many seniors in the area as well as young families, he said.
“If they wish to walk on the trail, when they get tired they’ll have benches, and if they want to use it at night there will be lighting for safety.”
Garry Rossi, vice-president of water operations with Enwin, which manages the water system for WUC, believes the renewed park will fulfil the promise made when WUC took over the property.
“It was always our intention that this was going back to parkland,” said Rossi.
“There are two distinct parts. There’s the reservoir piece and then there’s the piece north of the reservoir that the city is completely managing.”
The $25-million reservoir project was needed to add capacity to the system, he said, in the event of any threat to the water supply, such as contamination in the Detroit River. The more you have in reserve, the greater time you have to supply customers, said Rossi.
WUC already has a 70-million-litre reservoir, called Reservoir D, across George Avenue, but without a second reservoir you can’t shut down Reservoir D for maintenance. Enwin is planning to shut down Reservoir D for refurbishment during the next two years.
The land for George Avenue Park was originally purchased in 1925 from the estates of the Henkel and Lacroix families.
The new reservoir elevates the south section of the park several feet. Rossi said Enwin will soon start the tendering process “to get our part of it done.”