Windsor is getting public feedback on a naturalized playground, and if the concept works well, you might see other parks like it pop up across the city.
At a public meeting on Mitchell's Park, City of Windsor Landscape Architect Stefan Fediuk says after getting feedback on what residents nearby wanted to see, the city hired a firm to design a park with educational value.
"We incorporated the whole idea of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly," he says. "In the no-mow area now, what we're looking at is adding plants that attract the monarch butterfly."
Drawings for Mitchell's Park in Windsor seen at a public open house held at the Caboto Club on September 15, 2016. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
Other ideas that came out of public consultations included walkways and a splash pad. While construction on the playground is expected to start in October and continue next year, the splash pad will come later. There will be future public meetings on its design.
Fediuk says the idea appears to be very popular with residents, but he says there's a reason why the city hasn't built a naturalized playground in the past.
"Natural playgrounds actually do have a higher element of maintenance to them," he says. "However, as a pilot site, we're going to monitor it and see how much maintenance is required."
He says the concept won't work everywhere.
"If it works well than what we'll do is we're going to select certain parks in certain areas of the city because it's not going to be suitable for every community in the city," says Fediuk.
- With files from Ricardo Veneza.
