Vine Parkette a go go

A rather sparely attended meeting took place in  Vine Parkette Wednesday evening with  local Councillor Sarah Doucette of Ward 13, and the parks department designer for the parkette.

I walked by the meeting,  following my son as he rolled right past his mother who attended the meeting, heading for the swings, he would hear nothing about stopping for a look in on the meeting. So everything I write is well…second hand.

…talked to few people after and got the impression some people liked the plan, while some thought using a 4 year old plan was a bit simple. Others really disliked the loss of green space. Others thought the placement was too close to the basketball court, and that the sight lines with the other play area were weak.

 

———————yet the most striking items for me was the low turnout.
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6 Comments

I wasn’t at the meeting either but the plan look similar to one the JRA presented from Parks during the March meeting.
Does the removal of the baseball diamond create more green space than the new playground equipment removes? Net plus of green space?
I like the new lighting and additional tree plantings.
The distance between the two playgrounds came up in March as well. Too far apart.
Does anyone know if they talked about the “proposed second basketball court”.

Martin, there was no mention of a second basketball court. I asked the parks official about the rumoured possibility of a skatepark and his answer was "never, it is out of the question." I feel that we are losing a fair amount of unobstructed green space, because as you can see from the drawings the new playstructure and swings really jut out into the open field. They are going to ammend thee drawings and pivot the placement of the new equipment more on a diagonal so it won't extend so much into the green space. Many community members were fine with the playstructure but emotions were high at the meeting, because many felt unlistened to by our local Councillor and Parks people. This is a much more involved community than when the decisions were made about this park four years ago.

When Beresford Park's play structures were replaced this time last year we ended up with a much smaller playstructure than we gave up. The new one isn't terribly enjoyable for the over-6's while the old structure was accommodating for the older i.e. primary years. The choice of playstructure manufacturer turned out to be more critical than we appreciated at the time. Hope if works out better for Vine St.

This plan seems awkward as hell.

Also, it seems like people can barely handle maintaining the current play area what with the constant garbage all over the place. It's kinda scary to think how dirty having another area will make this park.

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