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1 0 stouflville suntribunem thursday may 17 2007 iswu one of the nicest i page 1 listened to an overview of the new park plans and then joined discussion groups to tell consultants and town what they liked and didnt like we have incorporated almost all of the suggestions and addressed con cerns we heard at the previous input sessions mr lockhart told the partici pants at the open house the move to improve memorial park was prompted by the fact many of the facilities such as the 50yearold out door pool are nearing the end of their lifespan tom graham director of leisure services said other factors are the closing of the sewage plant the park drive extension that was given thegreen light by the pre vious council and the fact there are 12 acres available near the lebovic leisure centre the town is studying 2006 census statistics to find out how many people there are in each age group and project ing these figures into the future so the most needed facilities are in place first the 60acre park is the one of the nicest parks in the gta councillor rob hargrave said but before any work is done mr har grave would like more people to have their say i think we are not doing a good enough job to get the public out he added the biggest concerns at the open house seemed to be the road noise lev- els that will be coming from the new park removal of two of the parks soft- ball diamonds and the fact almost all facilities are to be in the south end of the park requiringa bit of a walk or a bike ride to get there some are concerned there isnt enough in the north part of the park to draw people to main street the park is designed so that its easi er to get to on foot or by biking from sev eral locations mr lockhart said the removal of the outdoor pool works yard recycling plant and water treatment plant means theres more usable park space he added but some participants raised the issue of security secluded trails could attract the criminal element resident terry arnott said and the berm near thicketwood road will probably become a hangout for young people to drink children and adults will be able to walk through the park from north to south without encountering a road town planner andrew mcneely said the way mr hargrave sees it when you put a road and kids and pedestrians together it doesnt make any sense the road can be a danger when chil dren want to cross the street to get to the other side of the park it has been narrowed to 79 metres from the 11 metres originally proposed and winds through the park with sever al blind spots to slow down traffic theres also a low wall on one side trish cabrelli wants to see the park drive extension made wider to accom modate regional and school buses and emergency vehicles there has to be more of a connection between the north and south part of the town she said otherwise traffic will spill into surrounding streets memorial park cheers boos thumbs up what residents attending the stouffville memori al park open house monday liked stouffville common a large cir cular open area in the centre of the park keeping most activities in the southern part of the park idea of a leashfree dog park new walking and bike access new basketball courts money to create park at musselmans lake thumbs down what they didnt like lack of consultation with new residents keeping activities in the southern part of the park prospect of noise danger from road extension accessible playground is too far from the parking lot al piette echoed the sentiments of several participants when he noted the remaining ball diamond and bleachers will be under utilized once the ball dia monds are built in bethesda park on bethesda road near ninth line creating parks is a slow process and before memorial can be changed bethesda park has to be in place with usable ball diamonds that might take a couple of years it features three ball diamonds and three soccer pitches with a number of smaller soccer fields in the centre of the area the new park has more emphasis on winter activities with the planned skat ing trail and toboggan hill near thicket- wood avenue there were some objections from participants that the toboggan hill might be unsafe with children going down the hill toward the proposed road extension the area proposed for the hill might be a good place for an offleash dog park resident peter mitchell said neighbours should be consulted before a road is put in their back yard mr hargrave said several residents are in favour of keeping the park basically the way it is but enhancing it flo neale suggested putting 1 mil lion into the existing park and putting in outdoor sport uses such as more basket ball courts the estimate for the memorial park project is around 6 million the final draft plan is expected to be presented to council june 19