(Image: Google Maps)
West side residents spent much of their day Saturday brainstorming ideas for their beloved Dominion Park.
Councillor Gary Sullivan was at the community meeting and said the energy in the room was palpable.
Around 50 people attended the half-day workshop, including Social Development Minster Dorothy Shephard, and a number of other city councillors.
“A lot of good energy in the room, people were really engaged,” noted Sullivan.
Sullivan says residents discussed a number of ideas for the park, including adding a ramp for boat launches.
“We are surrounded by water. We’ve got the Bay of Fundy on one side and the Saint John River on the other side, and very, very limited public access. Dominion Park is an ideal spot to launch your boat,” he said.
Sullivan says Dominion Park is also Saint John’s best-kept secret for sunsets and stargazing.
“So we talked a lot about how can we have events like a movie in the park or bring live music to the park,” he said.
Sullivan says residents also want to see upgrades to the canteen, which was damaged during the spring flooding.
“An updated and upgraded canteen was talked about. Certainly, a change of location is needed out of the flood zone,” he said.
Also discussed was adding in designated fire pits, improving road safety and infrastructure so more pedestrians and cyclists can access the park, and increasing mobility access to the beach.
Sullivan says nearby Timber Top Adventures is “fully engaged” in helping with the revitalization, and could potentially extend some of their “aesthetics” into the park.
The final exercise of the day saw residents rank the ideas in a list, based on which projects they want to see done sooner rather than later, and which projects could hold off.
Sullivan says now the community association can get to work building a master plan for the park.
“They’ve got some money from the city, some money that was set aside for the playground. Some other money that will be coming in insurance from what happened to the canteen in the flood, and then as far as what’s beyond that, they’ve got some more work to do,” he said.
The city has also set some additional money aside for upgrades at the park, but it’s not certain which projects will be funded first.
Sullivan says the association should also start work on securing provincial and corporate partners to fund the revamp, as well as organize fundraising efforts.
