The year-long soil risk management and redevelopment work by the city at Lionel Britton Park is set to be complete by the end of August 2026. A main goal was to improve the park’s surface cover, recommended by the City based on the identification of poor quality soil fill in this area. Its shallow soils have now been excavated and replaced with new material.
The project was undertaken after considerable consultation with the community. The Parks Committee worked with the city and the councilor’s office to ensure a number of objectives were met with the park redesign.
A key aim of the redesign was to protect and maintain the existing amenities and mature trees (and their canopy) within the park.
In addition, the project provided an opportunity to improve the previous level of accessibility – including widened pathways – while minimizing the scope of any necessary paved surfaces in favour of greenspace.
Perhaps the park’s best existing feature is its rounded natural slopes and grassy areas – ideal for youngsters to roll up, down, and around on.
Advocacy by the Parks Committee ensured that these spaces – which the city initially planned to replace entirely with blown mulch – were preserved with natural grass cover. The result is a renewed variety of groundcover, and a grassy surface still easier to lounge on –
without the potential mess of so much engineered wood fibre (EWF).
The upgraded park was also to include a new swing set, a stand-alone sand box, a picnic table, as well as the refurbishment of other existing play structures.
The Parks Committee asked that the newly installed benches be grouped and oriented in such a way that caregivers could better engage in conversation while keeping an eye on young ones at play.
The committee also recommended that swings for the same age group be paired together, allowing kids to swing with friends while giving parents pushing their children a chance to connect with friends too.
New fencing provides improved access for City maintenance staff.