Bordeleau and King Edward Parks in the age of Covid-19

Bordered by Bruyère and Rose Streets on the south and west, and the Rideau River along its hypotenuse, the wedge-shaped expanse of grass and trees known as Bordeleau Park long seemed like one of Lowertown’s lesser known and under-utilized public spaces. Tennis courts, a children’s play area, a boat dock, plenty of open space and lots of shady nooks all combine to make the park an attractive venue but it was rarely over busy – except for hordes of foraging Canada geese, lots of dog walkers and their pets, and regular visits by Ottawa firefighters training with equipment.

The same was largely true of King Edward Park, which literally conjoins Bordeleau. Also, triangular but narrower, it tapers from Cathcart Street to the Minto Bridge, hemmed in on the east and west by the river and King Edward Avenue, respectively.  Lush greenery and a basketball court are its prominent features, but neither drew as many people as might have been expected.

This summer, though, things are different. In fact, both parks now function like magnets, attracting not only far more Lowertown residents than usual but also people from other parts of the city.

Take King Edward Park, for example. The basketball court, situated at the north end, is almost always busy. Anglers with fishing rods or readers engrossed in their books are often spotted along the shoreline. Other parts of the park now host innumerable picnics by “social bubbles” of couples, friends or families.

There’s also been a variety of novel activities including, most recently, a rehearsal by a church choir based in Orleans and a baby shower for Chrystelle Thibault Boyer, a Lowertown mother-to-be. Standing in a circle, the choristers kept their physical distance as they sang. Guests at the baby shower, on the other hand, sat on chairs or blankets in small, separate groups of close friends or relations.

Action has picked up even more substantially at Bordeleau Park. Not to be outdone by the Boyer baby shower, it recently hosted a wedding on the dock. François Moreau and his fiancée, Jade, strolled with a handful of guests across the park from their condo on Bruyère Street to meet up with the officiant who presided over the nuptials. It’s the same stroll to the same dock that François takes when he’s ready to blow-up his five-man dinghy, attach an electric motor and set out for a lazy cruise on the river. 

Built by a few Lowertown residents several years ago and turned over to the city as a community asset, the Bordeleau Park dock attracts boaters from far and wide, In fact, it often looks like a small marina these days, especially when a great many enthusiasts show up at the same time with their canoes, kayaks, dinghies and even paddleboards. Some arrive with craft mounted on a car roof while others open their trucks to remove a collapsible boat-in-a-bag that then has to be inflated with a mechanical or electric device.

And they come from everywhere. Mika Friesen and Beatriz Lainez, for example, only have to walk a few blocks from nearby St. Andrew Street with their pump-up dinghy. Kayakers Julie and Marc Schuman, on the other hand, drive all the way from Orleans because, they say, the river at Bordeleau Park is broad and deep, unlike other sections of the Rideau inside the urban core, and our dock makes launching easy.

On occasion, the dock becomes a fishing pier. Seven-year old Marisol Mongeon, from Masson, Quebec  recently caught a small-mouth bass there, her first fish ever. She was visiting grandfather Jeff Stevenson in Vanier, and he brought her to Bordeleau Park for a fishing lesson.

Sometimes, too, the dock is a diving board – like on hot days when 16-year old Issam Melali bikes over to it from his Lowertown home and takes a cooling dip in the river.

Bordeleau Park’s two courts are also very busy these days, either for tennis or pickleball, the relatively new net game that is growing rapidly in popularity. Nearby, shrieks of delight ring out from children on the splash pad or swinging and sliding on the playground equipment.

Now that gyms have reopened, trainers are no longer holding sessions for their clients in the park as they did during the early stages of the pandemic. But Claude Desilets continues to make Bordeleau Park his spot for cardio and strength training, just as he’s done for several years. From early spring to late fall, he walks over from his Sandy Hill home four times each week in the late afternoon to work out.

Once a week, Imad Khaddaj, who lives in the Market area, appears with two friends who are helping him develop a training program in martial arts and other disciplines. Bordeleau Park is their testing lab, where they practice and refine routines that will ultimately be offered by Khaddaj’s new venture, Grounded Movement, a company to motivate healthy living

Of course, Bordeleau also has its share of picnics. And many Lowertowners follow Shawne Clarke’s example of entertaining guests in the park rather than his condo: all it takes are folding chairs, a small table and a hammock strung between two trees.

Games of all kinds are played every day on the grass. Tossing footballs, baseballs and Frisbees seems to be the most popular, but soccer and badminton are also played, and there’s even volleyball from time to time.

On the more exotic side, Alex Raransky plays bocce, Italian lawn bowling, with his father or firends.  And a young couple were seen playing the Swedish game Kubb, an interesting combination of bowling and bocce which some claim was invented by the Vikings. 

Yoshi Chladny is often seen juggling an impressive number of clubs in the evening: a former professional who’s toured with Cirque du Soleil, he finds juggling an excellent way to unwind from his daytime job as a software engineer.

What accounts for this increased activity? According to most park users interviewed by The Echo, it is a reaction to having been cooped up at home for so long because of the coronavirus. A lust for the outdoors, they say, took hold as public health restrictions steadily eased, the weather improved, we all adapted to social distancing and masks, and potential COVID-19 risks of indoor pursuits continue to concern many people.

But another factor is the group of local residents who call themselves Friends of Bordeleau Park. Chaired by Sandra Milton, a Cathcart Street dynamo, FBP has already organized several events this season, including a Canada Day canoe and kayak flotilla and a children’s dress-up scavenger hunt last month that also featured hop-scotch, face painting, rock colouring and bubble machines.

Many years ago, Marty Rubin, the late Canadian-born U.S. author and activist, wrote that “Parks and playgrounds are the soul of a city.” That may have seemed like hyperbole to some, but those words certainly ring true today.