As parting gifts go, this one was really for the dogs.
And that was a good thing, as thanks in large part to former Thorold residents Ed and Jane Lipscombe, Thorold now has an off-leash dog park of its very own. Open for canines – and their human friends – since the start of October, a name reveal and ribbon cutting made it all official Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 8).
Three years ago the Lipscombes decided to make the move to Fenwick. And as they were getting ready to sell off their Thorold property, they chose to donate part of the land – nine acres in total – to the city with just one condition: it must become a dog park.
“We watched the community get bigger and bigger,” Ed said Tuesday, as city staff, councillors and members of the community gathered at the park, located at 1884 Beaverdams Rd. “We love dogs. We have dogs.”
Jane picked up the story.
“That's when I said, why don't we see if the city wants it and donate it for a dog park?” she said. “This would be the perfect thing for the land, for the dogs."
When the couple approached the city about donating the land for such a purpose, they found out the City was already looking for a suitable location for a dog park.
“It worked out pretty well,” Ed said.
With the dog park a reality, the Lipscombes were given the opportunity to come up with a name for it. They decided to call the park the Van Stralen-Griffiths Dog Park, in honour of Theo Van Stralen, Jane’s late father and David Griffiths, whose family owned the land for a century before it was purchased by Ed and Jane.
“David's been like a father to us,” Ed said. "He has taken us in."
Griffiths, meanwhile, said that it wasn’t the first time that family land has become a park.
“My aunt was the last of the family, and she said to my son, I have 10 nephews and nieces who are going to fight over it, so let's turn it into a park,” he said.
That land is now home to the Mel Swart Lake Gibson Conservation Park.
Mayor Terry Ugulini said the dog park was something that Thorold residents have been wanting for years and when the Lipscombes came forward with the offer of a land donation, it made it all possible.
“This is something which residents approached us about many times," he said. "We were one of the few municipalities that didn't have a dog park. So, we went through the whole process, and we were so fortunate to get the land [donation]. That accelerated the project."
The park features separate fenced areas – one for small dogs and one for large dogs. Paved pathways meander through the site in the picturesque rural part of Thorold. There are also benches and solar lights for evening playtime. The park will be open daily from dawn to dusk.
Ugulini, for one, is impressed with the park.
“The final product more than exceeded my expectations,” he said. “Where [else] are you going to get a beautiful setting like this?”
