‘HIDEOUS’ EYESORES
City promises to look at ways to make electrical boxes blend better at park
Steven Palmer, a professor of history at the University of Windsor, leans on a large electrical box in the middle of a grassy patch at Willistead Park on Friday. The city agrees with him — the utility outlets don’t fit in with the heritage property.
What’s being described by a neighbour as hideous infrastructural pollution at one of the city’s heritage gems will be addressed by Windsor’s heritage planner. Municipal administration will look at ways to make electrical boxes blend in better at Willistead Park, said parks, recreation, culture and facilities corporate leader Jan Wilson.
“I agree with the resident that they are not in keeping with the heritage nature of this park and it’s something we want to address,” she said Friday. Walkerville resident Steven Palmer has a thesaurus of words to describe the grey boxes that stick out of the ground and are in some cases near Victorian-looking lamps.
“This is really ugly industrial blight in what’s supposed to be a heritage-protected park,” Palmer told the Star Thursday.
The University of Windsor history professor said he noticed the boxes, electrical tubing at the front gate and added gravel at the gate about a month ago when he went for a jog in the park. He thought they were new and he was suspicious that the power supply units could be paving the way for more mass pay-for-entry events that to him would further degrade the heritage park.
Some residents were in an uproar in 2013-14 when the city added wide asphalt paths around the park against their wishes for a narrower path of interlocking bricks. Construction was halted temporarily but council subsequently pressed ahead with the paths that some councillors said were needed to make the park more accessible.
ONLY ONE COMPLAINT
Wilson said the power boxes were installed a few years ago and she’s only received the one complaint.
The electricity was needed around the park, she said. Some events, such as the long-running Art in the Park, had to use generators that were noisy, and the lack of outlets meant long power cords, she added.
The gravel at the gate was an interim measure in a low spot last year and it may be paved, she said. Council would have to approve any new events held at Willistead Park and they would have to be suitable for the park, Wilson said. “The intent was not to create a new festival site.”
The city’s heritage planner, along with facilities and parks staff, will meet in the next week or two and look at ways the units can better blend into the park, she said.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re removing everything. But we’re looking at, is there a different way that we can provide that service that’s needed in the park in a way that’s not so obtrusive?” Wilson said. Palmer said he supports Art in the Park but thinks more public consultation is needed on changes at the heritage site. He said he asked about the boxes first with Coun. Chris Holt and then sent emails this week to councillors on the development and heritage standing committee.
Holt said the city is actively working on addressing the concerns and Wilson did respond by email to Palmer Thursday afternoon saying the city is working on alternatives.
In 1976, council designated Willistead Park and Manor as an official heritage property.