Community gardens, open space and a climbing spinner will be among the features in the future Saint Mary’s Park.
The city has approved a design concept of the park that will be located next to the new École Qayqayt Elementary School on the former St. Mary’s Hospital site. The design being supported by council includes community gardens along one side of the park, an open lawn area for sports and picnicking, a large nature play area that includes features such as sand, logs, stumps, boulder sand vegetation, and a climbing spinner.
According to a staff report, the school district is planning two outdoor areas for École Qayqayt Elementary School.
“It’s great that we can meld together what the community needs and what the school needs,” said Coun. Betty McIntosh.
One of the plans had called for double the community gardens that will be provided when the park opens, something McIntosh said can be added in the future if needed. While community gardens are a great amenity, she said the city still needs to have grass and spaces for children to play.
Coun. Jonathan Cote said the Albert Crescent neighbourhood is deficient on green space, so this park will go a long way to assisting the community. He would have preferred having more community gardens in the park, but supported the concept.
“Ultimately this is going to be a great park for the neighbourhood,” he said.
Now that city council has endorsed its preferred option, staff will work through detailed design, prepare tender documents and get ready for construction to begin. The city is anticipating that park construction will be complete in the fall of 2014.
According to the staff report, the budget for the Saint Mary’s Park is $300,000. This project marks the first time the city will use an in-house parks and open space planner to design and manage a major project to completion.
Follow Theresa McManus on Twitter, @TheresaMcManus
