Frozen canal could offer even more for families

I would like to thank the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for the excellent work they do keeping our canal in good condition to skate, as weather permits.

On Valentine’s Day, I was grateful to be able to skate on the canal in front of the Lift Lock, and I had the whole place to myself.

My memories of our large family, and my mother’s large family on Maniece Ave., came to mind, and I feel blessed to have had the canal at our doorstep while growing up.

As children, we would skate there at nighttime, too, and we had so much fun.

I would like to suggest to city council that this is an area which should be given more attention to, in order to draw tourism and the community out to enjoy and participate in winter months. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a vendor there or a cabin where folks could get a coffee or something to eat, or go inside to get warm? It would be a meeting place and could be seasonal, taken down in the spring, run by volunteers or retirees like myself.

Also, it would be great to have lights at night to bring people out to skate, and perhaps have a fire pit on the weekends? Just some ideas to bring families out who are stuck inside this time of year, and which wouldn’t cost them anything.

Ottawa has invested in their canal and it’s a big tourism attraction. We could have something on a smaller scale, but it requires a little investment in a few things like lights and vendors. Didn’t we have music there at one time, too? Always available to help, of course.

Susan McKenzie Frances Stewart Rd.