Heritage Committee Recommends Asphalt Roads in Willistead. Why?

Determined Parks Boss Routes Park Lovers, 

 Heritage Committee.

Area in background will be broken up by 12 foot wide asphalt roads.

      John Micelli, Windsor’s newly minted Parks Department leader since Don Sadler retired last year, will have nothing to do with the heritage or green aspects of Willistead Park.  In a January 8 meeting with the Heritage Committee, deferred to by City Council,  Micelli made his position loud and clear:  “Your getting paved paths whether you like it or not”. 

      Micelli’s entire argument focused on standardizing Windsor’s Parks with 10 to 15 foot wide paved paths for the accommodation of  trucks and equipment.  Problematic, he says, are the recently installed garbage receptacles in Willistead that are embedded ten feet underground to deter bored teenagers from tipping them over.  The Parks Department brings in a large truck with a specialized attachment to pull, empty and re-seat the containers.  It was pointed out to the Committee that all of the receptacles in Willistead are next to existing paths and park entry points with the exception of one that is ten feet away from the childrens play set and 35 feet from an existing path.  His other reason is to accommodate Art in the Park which, as one Heritage Committee member pointed out, is  The “elephant in the room”.    The proposed circuitous asphalt track and its tributaries will replace as much as 11 percent of Willistead’s grassy, treed surface.  That is a lot considering that Willistead measures only 1 kilometer around its perimeter.  The path plan mimics the Art in the Park Vendor map.   Micelli also introduced a revised path plan for Willistead that eliminated one secondary and redundant tributary and modifies the proposed paths in the North West corner of the park.  Area residents were expecting a compromise in width to 72 inches but that was clearly not what was offered.    It became apparent that  Micelli does not want to compromise on his 12 foot wide paths.  Area residents and park users do not want the paths at all.  Asked if the plan revision was posted on the city’s web site Micelli answered “No”.  This admission left the Walkerville delegation to speculate that Micelli is going to try and get his wide paths approved when this issue is brought before City Council later this month.  Lastly, Micelli brought up the Accessibility card which others pointed out was a non starter because the current paths and entry points are already in compliance. 

This is how the east side of the park looked up until this fall.

Same area with gravel bed for new path.  

      Delegations at this Heritage meeting were as follows:  Howard Weeks, founder of the group “Save Willistead Park” and son of past Mayor Bert Weeks,  Gayle Jones, a lawyer and Windsor’s Diversity and Accessibility Officer and John Micelli , Windsor’s Parks Boss, although he seemed to play more of a Steering Committee role than anything else. 

      Mr. Weeks presented passionately around a couple of points:  Mainly that stakeholders were never made aware of changes to the park until heavy equipment came to tear it up.  Willistead’s  Board of Directors claim otherwise but as of this writing there are no area residents who have stepped up to verify involvement.  Weeks repeatedly called for stakeholder participation in the process but was rebuffed in each attempt.   He asked if there was any assessment to determine what is actually needed to improve accessibility.  Micelli pointed out that Gayle Jones was present to address accessibility issues. 

Proposed 12 foot asphalt roads represented in yellow.  Close to scale

Yellow  represents total area to be covered with asphalt.  1.5 acres approx.

      Ms. Jones introduced herself as Windsor’s “Diversity and Accessibility Officer”.  She clarified that she was unaware of the Willistead path issue and played no part in it until a few hours before the current Heritage Committee meeting.  That clearly answered Howard Weeks’ question about an “Accessibility Assessment”.  She spoke in certain terms about what is acceptable and what is not.  Jones reminded that 54 inch wide surfaces are quite OK for accessibility in outdoor public areas (Willistead complies) but that 72 inches would be her preference.  She also stated that she preferred smooth surfaces such as cement or asphalt over pavers even though pavers do meet the requirement.  She said that pavers make an acceptable compromise if they are installed on the edges of a paved surface because they can be used as warning or cuing surfaces for white cane technique.  

      After all delegations completed their presentations it was time for the Heritage Committee to chime in and vote on the subject.  There were some who questioned the added paths but they were coaxed by Micelli to keep moving forward.  The group voted in favour of the new paths per Rev. 2  by a narrow margin.  They voted that the paths should be no more than 72 inch wide and that they should be paved with asphalt.  This recommendation will be presented to City Council later this month. 

Area residents take control and save Art in the Park during City Strike.
This exact area already has a twelve foot path running through it.

Classic tree lined straight entrance will be torn out.
 Serpentine paved road to weave through trees

This view from Devonshire Road no longer exists.

      The Parks Department has budgeted $400,000.00 for these proposed changes.  Also in attendance at the meeting were Councillors Allan Halberstadt who is also a member of the Willistead Board of Directors and Fulvio Valentinis who is a member of the Heritage Committee.  

Art in the Park on real grass.  

Old brick path being replaced with 12 foot wide road bed.

***All photos courtesy of Willistead Facebook Photo Page. 

 See links below for some great shots of Willistead Park. 

Most taken by area residents. 
Click on images to enlarge.

      For more information about paved pathways for “Art in the Park” follow these links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/556580677768729/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/588452161219766/