April 15th Meeting

The meeting was held to provide information and to gather feedback on the addition of Sylvia Holden Park to the Urban Park RFP.

There were three presentations followed by questions and comments.
Caroline Vanneste, president of the Glebe Community Association went through the sequence of events leading up to the inclusion of Sylvia Holden Park in the RFP. You can find Caroline's presentation here.

Clive Doucet, Capital Ward Councillor, put the concerns over the community park in the context the the greater Lansdowne redevelopment and expressed his support for initiatives to protect the community park. Also, Clive is going to pass a motion before council to request to remove the community park from the RFP.

Adrian Evans, a concerned citizen who lives close to the park spoke convincingly about the real risks of having the community park included in the RFP. Adrian's presentation is here.

Unfortunately no one from city staff attended the meeting. Invitation letters were sent by the GCA and followed-up on. Apparently city staff was specifically instructed NOT to attend.

There were many questions after the presentations. The questions were positive and mostly centered around what could be done to save the park. We also heard from a few of the "hundreds" of dog owners who use the dog park. Apparently this is the only dog park in the city that is totally fenced-in with high fences.

About 80 people attended the meeting. Also, two names were drawn for the park coloring contest. Congratulations to Leo and Rachel, each winners of $20 Miss Tiggy Winkles gift certificates.

Google Group Setup

We've setup a google group for people interested in protecting the community park to discuss with each other. Click here: http://groups.google.com/group/save-sylvia-holden-park/subscribe?note=1 to become a member.

Peter Hume on Sylvia Holden Park

You can view what Councillor Hume has said regarding Sylvia Holden Park under Maria Cook's

column :

http://communities.canada.com/OTTAWACITIZEN/blogs/designingottawa/archive/2010/04/15/sylvia-holden.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage

Councillor Hume tells us the community park will remain under control of the City. How is this possible if the park is seamlessly integrated into the larger Lansdowne site which is going to be managed by a Municipal Services Corporation?

How is the park going to be protected from huge crowds leaving the stadium after sports events and concerts?

If the community park is going to be improved - why isn't anybody from the City allowed to speak to local residents to tell them about this improved park?

In a year or two from now, with a new council, what value will these re-assurances have? Does the City have the budget to rip-up the existing park and re-build it?

The design teams have said that good consultation is required for good design. Why has there been zero consultation with local residents about the community park?

How can we resolve the claims about the park with the drawing which is being shopped around to prospective retailers at the mall:

There doesn't appear to be a lot of park-space here...

Public Meeting Thursday

Don't forget to come out to the public meeting :

When : April 15th at 7:30pm

Where : Glebe Community Centre

This is your chance to get your voice heard and speak to City officials.

Circa 1995

Thanks to Elaine, here's a copy of the article from the Glebe Report in 1995 when Sylvia Holden Park was created:

Petition is On-Line

Our on-line petition is up and ready. Please follow this link to sign the petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-community-park. We need to get a large number of signatures to have an impact - please get all your neighbours to sign!