This year, the GCA Parks Committee continued to pursue mitigation of damage and vandalism that has been occurring at Exploration Park, as well as a garden maintenance agreement for the park.
This unique environment of creative, active recreation was completed in 2014 after several years of consultation, the pro bono contribution of designers Brett Cardinal and David Lashley, and funding from Capital Ward’s Cash-in-lieu of Parkland.
Regrettably, this beautiful, well-loved Glebe play space has experienced several waves of damage lately. The park’s bamboo fence – so integral to the park’s original, natural design and feel – has been displaced ever since it was damaged last year by what appears to have been a deliberate act of vandalism as well as further disruption from the adjacent parking lot. As part of the restoration of the bamboo fence, our aim is to find a solution that will provide it with more structural stability.
In addition, there has been in the last few years ongoing, significant disturbances of park features / landscaping, “mischief to (city) property,” as well as further damage and vandalism to the park as a whole. The committee continues to engage with the city (including Bylaw, the Ottawa Police Service, and the Community and Social Service Department) and the councillor’s office in an effort to implement some next steps to prevent this problem, repair the damage, and fully restore park’s unique features.
All of its damaged features are integral to its original vision as a community-designed urban parkette created to stimulate the imaginations and large motor skills of toddlers and pre-schoolers. It was envisioned from the start as a natural play-space oasis of make-believe riverbeds and paths, ancient fossils, and bamboo forests – all intended to provide a wonderland of features on which to climb, sit, and daydream beneath the dappled shade of an urban tree canopy.
The committee hopes to see restored its balance beams and log rounds, its stepping-stone boulders and logs, sandpits, outdoor musical instruments, and clean chalk drawing wall (existing sand in the sandbox and wood chips have been arbitrarily moved from their original location within the park layout).
Ongoing restoration work at the park will hopefully be accompanied by the enhancement of its garden features as part of a garden maintenance agreement and the city’s Community Gardens Action Plan.