Construction of Arrowdale Community Park expected to begin in April

Construction of Arrowdale Community Park is expected to begin in April and be completed by the end of 2024.

A public notice issued by the city said it will be the biggest community park to be built in Brantford in the last 100 years.

“While neighborhood parks serve the immediate neighbourhood, community parks provide for multiple neighborhoods as they are larger in scale and include more varied, high-quality amenities, such as a splash pad, multi-use courts, a skatepark, cycling, water features, public art gardens, picnic shelters, landmark monuments, walking trails, nature appreciation, bird watching, sitting areas and a venue to host celebrations and activities, such as Movie Nights in the park,” said the notice.

The park is being built on 17 acres of the former Arrowdale Municipal Golf Course property.

The city’s decision in 2020 to sell the municipally-owned golf course land to Elite MD Developments was controversial and began a campaign by a group of residents who wanted it maintained as a golf course.

The first phase of the community park – the creation of a dog park on the south side of the property along Elgin Street – was completed in late 2022. The second phase of the dog park construction is set to begin in the next two weeks, said the city, and will include a concrete entrance area, asphalt pathways, benches and landscaping.

A temporary parking lot has been constructed for those who want to use the park for walking or tobogganing in the winter.

The first three stages of an archeological field investigation of the property, with field monitors representing Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, have been conducted. Final approval of the reports from the investigation are expected in September, said the notice.

Stage 4 of the investigation will begin in October, followed by an update to the design of the park “that will take into consideration all feedback received throughout all stages of the archeological investigation.”

When construction of the park begins in the spring, “city staff will work diligently to ensure minimal disruptions to the surrounding area, prioritizing safety and efficiency throughout the project,” said the notice.

Money from the sale of the Arrowdale land is being used to develop affordable housing elsewhere in the city. Property tax revenues generated from the redevelopment of the Arrowdale property will be transferred annually into an affordable housing reserve fund, the city said.