By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
Safety concerns about crossing busy Bear Line Road to access Chatham’s St. Clair College Community Park are being addressed.
The issue was discussed at council June 9, following an information report about the new amenity.
Now in its second year of development, the park has entered phase two of construction.
According to Chatham Coun. Conor Allin, constituents have raised the safety issue, noting he’s heard it will be difficult for students from nearby schools to get to the park.
“They’ll have to rent buses just to travel two blocks because we don’t have anything in place right now,” Allin told council.
However, Chatham-Kent’s general manager of infrastructure and engineering said staff is addressing the matter.
“What we’ll be looking at through our capital budgeting process is filling in those sidewalks, eventually putting a traffic signal in there and most likely a left turn lane as well,” Soldo said. “So, it is on our horizon for us to look at. We’ll be doing the design and coming back to council with the project in the near term.”
The project launched in 2023 thanks to a donation of 19.5 acres of land from St. Clair College to develop the park. It will be home to 10 pickleball courts with lights; two sport courts with lights (designed for 3-on-3 basketball courts); a washroom facility; a playground area; a maintenance building and accessible trails on the front half of the property. Park amenities such as landscaping, benches and bike racks will be featured, along with a soccer/rugby field and a cricket pitch.
The municipality is also partnering with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority to plant trees throughout the park.
A year-round tennis facility is also being built. Chatham-Kent has entered into an agreement with Tennis Clubs of Canada (TCC) and an Ontario numbered company to build and operate the dome. It was supposed to be completed in 2024, but due to supply issues, is now slated for completion in October.
According to a staff report administration was asked to investigate a multi-purpose indoor soccer facility for the park, but that couldn’t be accommodated in the design.
Anyone wishing to learn more about the new park or to provide input about other facilities can attend a future open house on the municipality’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan aimed at guiding services for the next decade. It had been scheduled for June 19 at the Bradley Centre, but will now be shifted to as-yet-to-be-determined later date.
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