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Kincardine Lions Club plans 10-year, $1.4-million improvement to park beside Davidson Centre By Liz Dadson |
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The Kincardine Lions Club is planning to spend $1.4-million over the next 10 years on improvements to Lions Park beside the Davidson Centre. The plan was revealed to Kincardine council at committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (Nov. 16). Among the improvements are a splash pad, youth skatepark bowl, change rooms and washrooms, equipment storage, improved parking, improved lighting, sidewalks and walkways, additional shelters, a basketball court and outdoor ice rink, and park signage. John McManus of the Lions Club, said the club wants to turn that area into a destination for families. To do that, it is working with the municipality, Kincardine Youth Waves, and the Facebook group that is drumming up support for the splash pad.
Aayushi Joshi (L), Lauren Killin and Robbie Meek of Kincardine Youth Waves Speaking on behalf of Youth Waves were Aayushi Joshi, Lauren Killin and Robbie Meek. The youth coalition's members are between 12 and 19, along with some adult mentors. Their goal is to give youth in Kincardine a voice; promote healthy, active living and positive involvement in the community; and develop Kincardine as a whole into a more youth-friendly community. "This Lions Park project is a great opportunity to develop a partnership among Kincardine's youth, the municipality and the Lions Club," said Lauren.
"I saw the splash pad in Ripley and I thought why can't we have one here?" she said. "It would be a good way to get children outside in the fresh air, and it would be great for the economy and the community." McManus said in past projects, the municipality has put in two-thirds of the funding, with the Lions Club and sponsors putting in the other one-third of the cost. Under the 10-year plan, the club would like the municipality to come up with 60 per cent, while the club and fund-raising efforts come up with the other 40 per cent. Ken Fair of the Lions Club said the organization has about $3,000 invested in preliminary work to develop the site plan for the park.
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It includes a change to angled parking along the west side of the entrance to the Davidson Centre, making room for about 20 cars instead of the current dozen vehicle spots. It would also see a splash pad south of the current playground, the old skateboard park turned into a basketball court and outdoor ice rink, and a new skatepark west of the current playground. The Lions have committed $25,000 to this project so far, and are establishing a fund-raising sub-committee and engaging community support. From the municipality, they need a commitment for funding in 2012 to support engineering and site preparation, a written letter of commitment to accept ownership and maintenance of the equipment and facilities to permit the Lions to commence with fund-raising strategies, and establish a means of ongoing, open dialogue with council throughout the project. Councillor Kenneth Craig said this is a valuable opportunity to make this park a premier destination for families, just as the Lions Club has outlined. "We should direct staff to draw up a letter of commitment for this and include the project engineering and site preparation in our budget talks," he said. "That's the wise way to start." Councillor Jacqueline Faubert thanked the Lions Club for a great presentation with long-term plans and figures. "It's a good way to get youth involved in the community," she said, "and promote community health and safety. You could include culture and the arts by perhaps having the youth paint a mural at the park. I fully support this, and I would be happy to work with you on the component of arts and culture funding." Deputy mayor Anne Eadie said her only concern is the parking layout. "We need to address that carefully because we're going to have young children, all excited, and running all around, plus an increased volume of traffic. The overall traffic plan has to be done in a safe manner." The committee agreed to support the project, in principle, and add it to the capital project list for budget talks. A resolution will come to council at the Dec. 7 meeting. Meanwhile, Faubert asked council how it plans to deal with all these "worthy projects" that are coming forward. Mayor Larry Kraemer said it's a juggling act. The list of projects comes forward and council has to decide which ones will be included in the 2012 budget. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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