Proposed upgrades to a Hart neighbourhood park are aimed at providing new amenities for area residents while also honouring its namesake in a new way.
Residents who came to Thursday night's open house at the Hart Pioneer Centre expressed excitement over the new concept design for Darren Fitzpatrick Bravery Park.
"It's so amazing after all these many years of dialogue and discussion, to see something actually happening; it blows me away," said Hart Community Association president Kristie Francis.
While the main draw and newest element will be a long-awaited skateboard park, Francis said she's personally looking forward to "the expansion of the park in general so that it is multi-use, it is multi-generational and isn't just about the skateboarders and the bikers, it's about the Hart community and making it welcome for everybody."
The concept design for the park - off Dagg Road - features open spaces, trails, a dog park, a multi-use sport court and skateboard park, all surrounding a central Darren Fitzpatrick Poppy Plaza.
The park was named after Cpl. Darren Fitzpatrick in 2011, following the soldier's death from injuries sustained in Afghanistan in March 2010.
Fitzpatrick's mother, Colleen, said that while her family made suggestions about keeping a theme of remembrance in the park, it was another young person who made the poppy suggestion. In addition to the poppy plaza idea, there are poppy design elements in the skate park as well.
It was good to have the community come together and collaborate, Colleen said.
"Our son was raised here and went to daycare and played T-ball in these fields, so it's very exciting," she said.
"And it's really exciting for the community to get this. There's not a lot of opportunities like this in the Hart."
Users of the planned skate park were well represented on Thursday, offering their input between two potential layouts.
Having the park in the Hart would be a boon for those who commute downtown to the skate park at Carrie Jean Grey as well as for those who don't make the trip but are still riding in the neighbourhood.
"There's a lot of kids on the streets and in parking lots," said Michael Dziuballe, 17.
Justin Karrer, 15, lives in Beaverly but said he would be travelling across town to use the Hart park.
The Hart skate park would be about half the size of the one downtown, said Jason McMillen, landscape designer with New Line Skateparks Inc. New Line also designed the existing skate park in the Bowl.
Once a master plan for the park is set, a budget will follow and fundraising can begin, said parks planner Laurie-Ann Kosec.
The skate park itself is expected to cost around $450,000, she said.
