The plan to evaluate and develop Belleville’s recreation facilities and outdoor spaces is well underway and City Council has had a thorough briefing on phase one of that study.
Consultants from Sierra Planning and Management and MBTW Group gave councillors an overview of their 344-page Belleville Parks and Recreation Master Plan on Monday, which in the end, will establish a multi-year framework to guide the city’s parkland and recreational assets moving forward.
It looks at things like indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, parks, playgrounds and more, with phase one analyzing what the city currently has and needs, and phase two addressing how to add and develop those assets moving forward.
Sierra’s Jon Hack says the plan is tied to the city’s growth and changing demographics.
“The city is growing older, just like most communities in Ontario and the nation as a whole, however the city is growing. The projects show 6,500 people over the next 20 years and that could happen sooner, we don’t know, but the plan is designed to go in lockstep with that.”
He added that while the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre and some outdoor facilities like Mary Ann Sills Park and the splash pads are a hit with residents, there are some other areas where the community is underserved.
“Just to sort of put this out there quite clearly, the city has not got outdoor sports courts in place – tennis, basketball, multi-sport courts and of course pickleball. So one of the things you will see as we evolve this plan is determining not only what the quantum should be, but how many should you build, where should you build them and what time frame?”
Councillor Tyler Allsopp had brought up the point about not having enough basketball courts in the city and says that’s something that he hopes is addressed in the near future.
Hack says for now there seem to be enough “rectangular fields” in the city, but more will be needed in different parts of the city moving forward. He added that the city may want to look at adding more lighting to its current fields, in order to give them more use.
He went on to tell councillors that there seem to be enough ball diamonds, which are fairly well distributed across the city, but there was some dissatisfaction from residents who were surveyed about the quality of those facilities.
Councillor Chris Malette said he hoped the plan would be a “living document” and be able to be adjusted as the city grows and the needs of residents change.
Councillor Sean Kelly asked about things like facility naming rights, partnering with organizations like Loyalist College and what the city’s “diamond in the rough might be.”
Hack noted that there are plenty of opportunities to generate revenue through naming rights, if that fits within the city’s policies and that those types of land-use partnerships are also possible, depending on what those organizations and the city are looking for.
As far as the one amenity that that could be made better and become a true “crown jewel” for the city, MBTW’s Jon Joyce told councillors that the city’s waterfront trail is the one area that has lots of potential, but needs a bit of work.
“It’s unfortunate that currently there are a couple of gaps in that system that don’t allow for that full connectivity east and west. So, east of the Herchimer boat launch, or west out to Whitney and Wilkie Parks, for example. The waterfront trail is definitely a jewel, it does connect many of your significant and destination parks, like Zwick’s. But it’s something that’s maybe not quite acting to its full potential and anything that can be done to improve connectivity, or fill in those gaps, would go a long way.”
Phase two of the report, which focuses on what to build moving forward, should be ready this summer, but Mayor Mitch Panciuk asked if the city was still able to start on projects that are included in the plan and was told that could absolutely happen.
Council then passed a motion asking staff to start work on the Hillcrest Park Redevelopment, which currently has plans for multiple pickleball and basketball courts, a playground and splash pad, toboggan hill and other features.
The hope is to get bids back for the first stages of that project and have them included in the 2022 capital budget discussions in the fall.