CREEMORE ECHO • Friday, April 3, 2009 •
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Duntroon’s park set for facelift on 75th birthday (Continued from page 1) Owned by the Duntroon Women’s Institute for many years, the park was transferred to the Township in 2002, with a clause in the deed stating that “said lands are to be used solely for the use and benefit of the people of the Community of Duntroon and vicinity.” This year, the Township has plans to live up to that clause, with $62,000 aimed at the park in this year’s municipal budget. Fifty thousand of that will go towards creating a 48-car parking lot next to the hall (currently, patrons have to park on the busy County Road 91) and $12,000 will go toward sidewalks linking the parking lot, the hall and the intersection of County Roads 91 and 124. The community group, with the Township’s support, has also applied for a $25,000 Ontario Hydro grant aimed at the development and reconstruction of community parks. That money, if accessed, would go toward upgrading the park’s aging play equipment. Campbell’s group has also raised more than $5,000 through a series of community fundraisers and has plans for many more events, including a youth dance this Friday, April 3 and the hall’s annual Know-It-All Ball on Saturday, April 18 (see the Community Calendar on page 3 for more information about both events). The project has tremendous buyin from local business, starting with Campbell himself, who holds a Master of Architecture degree and is the principal of Duntroon-based Rockside Campbell Design, Inc. Also heavily involved so far has been land surveyor Martin Knisley, who volunteered his staff and time to produce a survey of the park that formed the basis of the design site plan. Campbell also has “letters of intent” to contribute from both Walker Aggregates and B&R Geothermal. The latter has proposed some sort of a deal on geothermal loops, which Campbell
The three-phase plan for Duntroon’s Islay Park includes a full-size soccer pitch, wooded mountain bike trails and a stage built onto the side of the Nottawasaga Community Hall. Clearview Township is partnering with the Duntroon community to get the bulk of the work done this year. told Council could be installed under the baseball diamond while the park is dug up and would then provide the hall with affordable heating and cooling throughout the next century. As for the diamond itself, it will likely be restablished during the project’s second phase, and will be moved further to the south to make room for the parking lot. By removing a section of the park’s woodland (a jack pine plantation planted by school children and volunteers in the 1930s) there will be room made for a fullsized soccer pitch as well. Farther into the future, Campbell anticipated the remaining forest could be home to mountain biking and cross-country running trails. He’d also like to see an outdoor stage built onto the west side of the hall someday.
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Support for the project is strong among residents of Duntroon, said Campbell. Last summer, a list of children who would use the park was compiled at Hennessy’s Garage (Duntroon’s “other community centre,” joked Campbell) and in two weeks,
more than 100 names were collected. Council was supportive of Campbell’s presentation, and Public Works Deputy Director Steve Sage promised that a “strategy session with potential donors” would be held in the near future.