The Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee wants city council to put Battle of Beaverdams Park on the books for the 2024 City Budget Deliberations.
As ThoroldToday reported, the committee thinks the park could use several improvements, such as a new fountain and the removal of a mound.
The issue once again came to the forefront during a committee meeting last Friday, when Chair Kieran Daniels lamented the lack of swings in the park.
“Every time I’m in there, half the kids are playing on the wheelchair one and half the kids are strapped into the special needs ones,” he said. “There’s no actual real swing set for the kids to enjoy. There used to be one and it was removed when they renovated the park.”
Daniels asked if the city had the old swing set still in storage, but Acting Program Supervisor Jacob Tedesco explained it got cut down when the park was renovated.
Committee member Robert Merrill took the opportunity to ask why the soft foam pad underneath the wheelchair-accessible swing was so worn down.
“I’m sure that the design of the swing is causing the problem,” he said. "Is this going to be a repair job every year?”
“Some of the bolts were not properly installed on the top,” Tedesco answered. “That did allow the one side of the swing to become loose and drop down a little bit. They’ve since addressed the issue with the bolts so it’s no longer scraping at the bottom underneath anymore.”
Councillor Ken Sentance asked that the installation of a regular swing set come before council during the next budget deliberations, where it can be considered with other improvements to the park.
“There’s more to it than just the swings,” he said. “There were other ideas for the park so if we could put it in as a budget consideration that would be great.”
And with that, the matter was forwarded to city council for consideration.
