Construction crews are busy building new and better parks in Bradford, and on July 31 two separate crews broke ground on two separate projects at Lotto Park and Luxury Park.
Land Eleven Construction is working on the town’s new Lotto Park, on the east side of Tiberini Way, across from the south leg of Westlake Crescent, near St. Charles Catholic School.
At about 1.5 hectares, the park is planned to include junior and senior playgrounds, a shade structure, three mutli-use courts, a path and landscaping intended to become “a beautiful new space for all residents to enjoy,” according to a release from the town.
Terry Foran, director of community services, confirmed the multi-use courts will have a similar composition to the basketball court at Taylor Park — which is also suitable for other court sports, like ball hockey — and one of the three will be a tennis court which will also be lined for the increasingly popular pickleball.
The park is also planned to connect to a trail network that largely follows the hydro corridor all the way north to Line 8, connecting to Taylor Park, W.H. Day Elementary School, Fuller Heights Park, St. Jean De Brebeuf Catholic School and the Davey Lookout along the way.
Total cost of park construction is $1.2 million plus HST, or about $1.36 million, with 90 per cent coming from development charges and 10 per cent coming from the park reserves, according to Foran.
If all goes according to plan, construction is anticipated to be complete by November this year.
The site was dedicated as parkland as part of the approval for plan of subdivision back in December 2017, before council later approved the layout in 2022.
That same year council approved the name Lotto Park in honour of the Lotto family, who arrived from Italy in the 1930s, settling in the marsh and establishing C. Lotto and Sons.
Meanwhile, Hawkins Contracting are currently working on the town’s project to revitalize Luxury Park at 140 Kulpin Ave.
At about 1.12 hectares, the park was originally built in 1983 and the new design focuses on increasing the amount of space for both active and passive recreation by replacing the old baseball diamond and basketball court with a new multi-use court close to the centre of the park, near the playground equipment that was replaced in 2018.
A shade structure will also be located between the playground and court to make it convenient for all users and to free up much of the remaining park space for paved looping paths, tree plantings, benches, gardens, spaces for future exercise equipment and ample open green space.
Plans also include the demolition of a washroom building which was added to the park in the 1990s, but had been closed for more than 10 years. However, the existing pedestrian walkways connecting the park to Maple Court, Fred Cook Drive and Collings Avenue are planned to stay.
Last fall, two different designs were presented to the public and showcased during the community access networking meeting for Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie.
The major difference was that one design retained the parking lot off Kulpin, while one removed it to create a nicer entrance, and the final design seems to strike a compromise by slightly reducing the size of the lot to improve the entrance with landscaping and a garden bed.
During the 2024 budget deliberations, council approved the $680,000 cost of construction from the capital replacement reserves, and if all goes according to plan, work is expected to be complete by late October this year.
Hawkins also recently broke ground on the town’s new Celebration Square project outside the library at 425 Holland St. W.
— With files from Patrick Bales
