ACW Council considers new parks, renovations to existing ones
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
On Nov 5, Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) Council received conceptual design work for three potential new parks in the municipality, as well as proposals for improvements and updates for five of ACW’s existing parks.
Council commissioned the design work last year, in alignment with the goals and objectives set out in the township’s 10-year Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. The five existing parks under consideration for a glow-up are Ashfield Park, Benmiller Community Hall and Baseball Diamonds, Dungannon Park, St. Helens Hall and Playground, and Petrie Park. The three proposed parks are Century Heights Park and Maitland View Estates Park in Saltford, and the Dungannon Well Reservoir Site.
Although the design concepts contained many ideas for park improvements across the township, a number of ACW citizens attended the meeting to express support for one particular element of the park plan - a proposed playground upgrade adjacent to the dual baseball diamonds of Benmiller.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Mackenzie Deuschle of the Benmiller Community Hall Committee (BCHC) spoke in favour of the potential playground update. “We feel that we can enhance the enjoyment of all who use the Benmiller Hall and Baseball Diamonds with the addition of a playground. Currently, there is nothing more than a small, dated swing set and a newly-added memorial sandbox. This is just not enough to fill the needs for the number of children using our grounds. According to the Parks and Recreation Plan from 2023, Benmiller was deemed a high-needs priority area for recreational playground equipment, and there are a number of local children who would greatly benefit from a playground.”
Deuschle reminded council that the next nearest parks are at least 10 kilometres away, and that multiple baseball leagues and teams have been using the Benmiller diamond, from tee-ball to softball. “The Tri-County Youth League consisted of eight centres, with traveling U7, U9, U11, and U13 teams... each team had approximately 14 kids per team - that totals about 462 kids traveling to Benmiller for multiple games throughout the season,” she pointed out. “This number does not include any siblings coming to the games. As you can see, our grounds are literally full of kids. Adding a playground in Benmiller would offer a much needed, safe and fun space for our kids to play.”
Deuschle hadn’t come to the meeting empty-handed - she’d brought along the collection of playground designs and quotes that the BCHC had assembled as part of its own independent efforts to create a plan to improve the playground. She also wanted council to know that the project could be more affordable than perhaps councillors might think. “All quotes are considerably lower than the $150,000 quote that is within the conceptual plans for the park being presented today,” she said. “We believe it could be much lower with fundraising efforts, grant applications, and in-kind donations from local businesses. We’ve prepared copies of these quotes and drawings for each councillor to review - I’ll hand them out after.”
Gina MacDonald, Chair of the Benmiller Community Hall Committee, also told council she believes in the proposed playground project. “We have been working on it, and it’s something I think we can work together on,” she said. “So I just want to show my support, and the BCHC’s support in moving forward on a playground. The sooner, the better.”
Resident Shawna Baxter believes that now is the time to invest in Benmiller’s future. “There are five new houses that went up in Benmiller in the last five years - all with small children. There are residents that have grandchildren, and there are residents who have great-grandchildren. I think the playground would actually get a lot of use, not just during the summer and baseball, but year-round. Benmiller is growing. Huron County is growing. ACW is growing - why not grow with it?”
Ten-year-old Lucas Johnston also offered council his thoughts on what should be prioritized, park plan-wise. “I’d like to speak to you today, during this important time while you are reviewing plans to build local playgrounds. I live near Benmiller, and would love to have a playground put at the ball diamonds. It would make watching ball games more fun for everyone, and fun for kids who live close by, or those who are visiting the hall for events. It would allow me to play with all of the neighbour kids that I don’t go to school with, and would otherwise not be able to get to know. It would allow kids to play in a safe environment, instead of getting into things they shouldn’t at the current park. My family will be able to take a short drive instead of a long one to another community... I’m surprised we don’t already have one,” he concluded.
Mayor Glen McNeil thanked all the residents of Benmiller for sharing their thoughts during the planning process.“We appreciate hearing from everyone, and especially the youth - it’s very, very important, so thank you very much.”
Designer Stasia Stempski of pl.ural attended the meeting via Zoom to answer any questions about the proposed designs for the eight parks. She explained the overall process and purpose of concept design, and responded to some of the public comments. “Essentially, what we’ve prepared are concept plans based off of information and community input from the Parks and Rec. Master Plan. We were given a wishlist in programming for each park, we went out to each park, did inventories and had a photo representation for each park,” she said.
After the design firm created the concepts for each park, they were vetted by ACW Chief Administrative Officer Mark Becker, who is overseeing the project. The concept drawings were edited, and a rough preliminary budget was drafted based on those edited concepts. “What we have going on now are the posters illustrating your intent to move forward with some kind of plan, taking into consideration your community’s wishes. Then those posters can be used for going after funding and grants, because you do need some kind of a plan, on paper,” Stempski explained. “As concepts, these are totally malleable…. The $150,000 as a start-up budget for that playground - it’s just a starting point.”
Councillor Jennifer Miltenberg wanted to ensure that other high-need communities wouldn’t be left behind. “I actually agree that Benmiller is one of our highest needs. But I also know that Dungannon has been fundraising and working for several years on a playground, and St. Helens has started one, and is working on the continuation.”
Stempski invited council and the people of ACW to look at the designs as just the beginning of a communal process to improve parkland in ACW. “I think these eight parks are really great jumping points for moving forward with any further implementation for these parks. It sounds like there’s a lot of enthusiasm for Benmiller.”