Playground equipment installed at David Lowes Memorial Park
By Mark Schadenberg
Teamwork, progress, continuity and community.
It’s been almost 12 months in which I went to Woodstock city council
as chair of the recreation advisory committee (WRAC) to formally suggest the
new municipal park on Lakeview Drive (west off of Hwy 59) be named after the
late David Lowes.
Now, thanks to a city budget line of over $100,000 for phase one work
for 2013, which the city coffers refers to formally as Project 473 (See: budget
link), the park is quickly appearing.
With the temporary safety fencing still standing tall, I’m not sure the children of this Sally Creek family subdivision will enjoy the swings and slides (and the various climbing apparatus) before the snow falls. However, this is tremendous progress for a city which is somewhat growing faster than some divisions can keep up, such as the parks department.
With the temporary safety fencing still standing tall, I’m not sure the children of this Sally Creek family subdivision will enjoy the swings and slides (and the various climbing apparatus) before the snow falls. However, this is tremendous progress for a city which is somewhat growing faster than some divisions can keep up, such as the parks department.
How many play structures does a city need, and what should the suggested
walking distance to an active park for children be? Just pondering ?
There were many reasons why the WRAC wanted to attach the name of
David Lowes to this new park. He was one of the developers of the entire
subdivision (along with Bill VanHaeren, Cliff Zaluski and others), was a long-time
contributor and volunteer with the hospital board and its building committee, donated
time and funds to many local charities including the Canadian Cancer Society’s
Relay For Life (his widow Sherry was recognized at a recent Relay), and was a
very distinguished and noteworthy local businessperson as owner of Kinsdale
Carriers. Lowes was a member of Rotary and a past president of that service
club. He was also a long-time cog in the wheel known as The United Way of Oxford.
Sadly, Lowes died in 2009, which means he didn’t see the completion of the
Woodstock hospital.
The teamwork of the building of the park can now also be visioned in a significant contribution by a local Rotary Club to top off the budget.
As a parent of a 7- and 4-year-old, I’ve seen a lot of playgrounds around
Woodstock, and I would say the David Lowes park might be the best play
structure outside of Southside Park.
Congratulations to Brian Connors and Chris Kern from parks and
recreation.
You should stop by and see the new park as it is more proof that
Woodstock is growing.
LINK:
http://www.city.woodstock.on.ca/images/stories/pdfs/budgets/2013/2013_2017_capital_budget_final.pdf
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas
St, Woodstock
(519) 537-1553,
cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
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