By Sandra Milton and Nancy Miller Chenier
Lowertown residents currently enjoy a diverse collection of green spaces, some with histories dating back to early Bytown and reflecting our community’s status as the birthplace of the City of Ottawa. Each park is unique, not only in its history and size, but also in its facilities and its uses by the community. But the parks also have shared issues in common related to ongoing maintenance, rehabilitation, and security needs to be addressed in cooperation with the city. With the increased building and population density coming to our neighbourhood, the need for additional greenspace, as well as care for the existing ones, is vital.
In 2020, a diverse coalition of community volunteers came together as the Friends of Lowertown Parks. The coalition currently includes residents focused primarily on Bingham Park, Bordeleau Park, Cathcart Square, Cumberland Park, King Edward Park, MacDonald Gardens Park, Raphael Brunet Park, and Rose Park. In addition to overseeing the regular maintenance of these spaces, the Friends advocate for improvements that will enhance their positive uses. As the group’s mission statement outlines: The Friends of Lowertown Parks are dedicated to promoting the health of our parks and to supporting the City of Ottawa in keeping the parks accessible and safe for all residents.
While all our parks have ongoing concerns about things like garbage, trees, vandalism, people/dogs, and encampments, some, like Bingham and MacDonald Gardens, have longer term planning issues that involve increased interactions with the city. The city operates, maintains, and promotes responsible ongoing use of our existing parks. However, if a park needs work that is not possible using the regular park budget, then funds can be available through the “cash-in-lieu of parkland” (CILP) policy. This cash is collected through the development review process and is shared by the city (40%) and the respective ward (60%).
At present, Bingham Park is slated to benefit from CILP funds and MacDonald Gardens is hopeful. These two parks have heritage status under the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) – Bingham within the Lowertown West Heritage Conservation District (OHA Part V), and Macdonald Gardens as the only individually heritage designated (OHA Part IV) park in the city.
Bingham Park: Starting in 2018, the Friends of Bingham Park consulted with former Councillor Mathieu Fleury’s office about revitalization of the park. Plans began to take shape in 2021 and, in 2024, Councillor Stéphanie Plante announced that a budget of $2.3 million was available for the project. The Friends are working with the Councillor’s office on the process for a public consultation with the community in the coming weeks. They are hopeful that residents will then take the opportunity to participate in decisions about the future of this valued historic park.
MacDonald Gardens: In 2019, the Friends of MacDonald Gardens started discussions with Councillor Fleury about a park conservation plan to provide a strategy for the management and conservation of the heritage values, attributes, and integrity of the park. In 2021, positive engagement with city staff was initiated. To date, while there is a draft plan, no funds have been allocated to proceed with the projected work required for preservation and restoration. The Friends anticipate that the Councillor’s office will arrange a public consultation in the coming weeks. This will provide an important opportunity for the community to take part and provide comments.
This coalition of Friends of Lowertown Parks gets advocacy support from the Lowertown Community Association but each park depends on the volunteers directly involved in their respective areas. The current lead volunteers organize community participation in clean-ups during the spring and fall of each year. They also keep a watch on the respective greenspaces to assist the city in its maintenance and overall operations in the Lowertown parks
The opportunity for Lowertown residents to get involved is coming with this spring’s Cleaning the Capital campaign. Various park clean-up times are included below and any help is appreciated. We hope to see you soon!
Clean up Dates
Raphael Brunet Park (in collaboration with Routhier Community Centre)
Saturday April 27 from 10:00 am to noon
Bordeleau (King Edward and Rose included)
Saturday May 11 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am
MacDonald Gardens Park
Saturday May 25 from 10:00 am to noon
Rain date May 26 (same time)
Cathcart Square
Occasional, as required; lead volunteer needed.
Cumberland Park
Ongoing daily
Jules Morin
Occasional, as required; lead volunteer needed.
