Park's Officials Pitch Pavement. Park Lovers Bury them with Wisdom



Park supporters voice their concerns



Real wisdom prevailed during last evening’s public meeting about a city plan to carve up the natural complexion of Willistead Park with a twelve foot wide paved ring road. Park regulars and area residents were angry on several counts: That the project appeared out of nowhere without a single resident knowing about it was a big one. So was the intent to hard pave over ten percent of the parks natural footprint. Willistead Manor was packed Wednesday night with angry opponents of this plan who were upset that the city did not take into account any stakeholder input about the delicacy of this smaller, historical property; especially in lieu of the city’s current push for a new Master Parks Plan.

The entire house expressed support for the Parks Department’s drainage improvement plans. Nearly none supported the plan to build a 12-foot-wide paved vehicular track girdling the inside of Willistead Park. When neighbours discovered a huge compliment of heavy equipment invading and digging up the park a couple of weeks earlier, Walkerville residents Howard Weeks and Gerry Pouget quickly organised and put a halt to the paving process. Mr. Weeks started a Facebook page (Save Willistead Park!) which is now nearly 500 participants strong and growing. This prompted Ward 4 Councillor Alan Halberstadt to plan and chair last nights emergency meeting. "...neighbours “passionately love this park as it is.” said Halberstadt.

Park’s officials including John Miceli the city’s executive director of parks and facilities and Mike Clement, Windsor’s Manager of Parks Development, said the current paths are “not where they need to be” in order to support the needed new drainage system and that the park is not fully accessible to disabled peoples. The house quickly reminded them that the current paths in the park are already accessible to people with disabilities. The park already has four large entrance points with wide paths reaching through the park in all four directions, to all critical points of the park. The park is also fully embraced by sidewalks around it’s perimeter with one entry point that accommodates vehicle entrance to a fully paved parking lot. As for drainage, the crowd found out that the park already had 100 year old drainage but that it had failed years ago. The newer plastic and filtered system with catch basins is much superior and should last at least that long. Pavement has nothing to do with the drainage.

Miceli put together a power point presentation that seemed more about diversion from the issue than about resolution. He talked about tree species and cherished historical aspects of the property but attendees politely waited him out as they were already well versed about Willistead. At one point Miceli pitched a study that indicated that ageing Baby Boomers demand wider paths in their parks. He was addressing a full room of people most of whom were boomers, and retirees who clearly indicated that they did not want anything to do with the ring road. Ida O’connor, an octogenarian who resides on Monmouth Road expressed that she uses the park every day to walk her dog “Sunny” along the existing paths and grassy areas without problems and that the park does not need extra paving. Others mentioned the heat that all of the paving would generate and many were leary about the city’s long term plan to maintain and repair the road.

Miceli clicked onto an architectural rendering of the park plan. It is thick with truck paths and tributaries and seriously out of scale making it look more palatable to the less attentive. From that drawing it is obviously apparent that the accessibility that the Park’s Department people were pitching was for Art in the Park vendors. It clearly follows the exhibit path around the circumference of the park. Its about getting their tents, displays and merchandise in and out of the park. It even cuts into the north west corner of the park where there is barely enough room to accommodate a paved track that wide. Miceli asked the audience whether the issue was “solely the width of the pathway.” With that he got a loud ear banging: “No paths at all!”

Miceli repeatedly tried to compare Willistead Park to Jackson Park where he already installed these wide paved pathways. He was told by members in the audience that there was no comparison to be made. Jackson Park is 65 acres compared to Willistead’s 15 (approximately 1.5 city blocks). It was also made clear that technically Willistead was not a park at all but rather one man’s (Edward Chandler Walker’s) back yard and that it was gifted to Old Walkerville with the rule that it was to be enjoyed by citizens in the same state that it was enjoyed by his family. Certainly a good reason to make exception.

Some time into the meeting a number of things were revealed: This plan was largely driven by the Willistead Board of Directors in conjunction with the Rotary Club; their regular business partner. It was then (oddly enough) rubber stamped by John Calhoun who is Windsor’s Heritage Planner and then rubber stamped again by City Council. It should be noted that Councillor Alan Halberstadt is also on the Board of Directors for Willistead. He made this abundantly clear during the meeting. Halberstadt pointed out that there were a few of the board members dispersed among the crowd but that the Chair was not in attendance. During the question and answer period one citizen chimed tongue and cheek that perhaps Art in the Park has outgrown Willistead and that the Rotary Club might want to seek out another venue like Ford Test Track Park that already has a very accessible ring road. Art in the Park organizer, Phil Cohen, chairman of the Art in the Park and member of the Rotary Club abruptly emerged from the crowd and said he took those comments as “an affront.” “It isn’t like we’re here to pillage and take away from Willistead … whether we have pathways is immaterial,” he said, reminding that Art in the Park has raised more than $1.1 million for Willistead restoration work since 1970. He added that both of his parents slipped and fell in the park on one occasion. Another area resident and lawyer pointed out with a pretty convincing argument that this addition to Willistead Park might violate the property's heritage designation.

Halberstadt, being caught between the board that he resides on and the constituents he represents indicated that area residents should voice their concerns directly with Willistead’s Board during their next meeting to be held on November 14 at 4:30 P.M. The issue will also be addressed in City Council on November 18. Area residents are already organizing to attend both of those events.

CTV Video Link Here:

http://windsor.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1039111