Chiefswood Park revamp considered
Talk of redevelopment includes educational longhouse, high-end camping
BRANTFORD — Plans to redevelop Chiefswood Park into a tourist must-see featuring a longhouse, upscale camping, trails and an interpretive centre are in the works.
The already historically significant location near poet and performer Pauline Johnson’s family home and the site of the Grand River Pow Wow could be the site of all these features and more if plans by the local tourism department and the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation (SNGRDC) get government funding and receive community approval.
SNGRDC is proposing to build a longhouse, revamp the camping options and build an interpretive centre as part of the project’s first of three phases.
The first phase is estimated to cost $2.2 million. SNGRDC, a relatively new nonprofit organization which invests money in various projects and reinvests the dividends into community projects, will put up to $1 million for the redevelopment of Chiefswood Park. However, that investment is conditional on matching funding coming through from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. There is currently an application with the federal agency for pre-planning funding to undertake archeological and cultural assessments of the site.
The park, which offers 45 camp sites, could revolve around “a modern-day longhouse” allowing tourists to understand the nature of First Nations gatherings which people outside the community would not otherwise get to experience.
Visitors could experience traditional dances, dining, ceremonies and Six Nations languages. Longhouses are places for clans and community members to meet and discuss issues, and build consensus on how to move forward.
Tabitha Curley, spokesperson for SNGRDC, said the longhouse would also be used as teaching space for school tours and as a venue for guest speakers.
The camping services could be improved with new upscale options including cabins, high-end tents and other possibilities.
A public meeting to discuss the redevelopment proposal is scheduled for late July, but an exact date has yet to be set.