City to install pathways in Willistead Park despite public disapproval

by Justin Prince

The City of Windsor plans to replace the pathways at Willistead Park with asphalt despite objections from several residents.

City council approved the decision March 17 with a 7-3 vote, although 12 people speak against the change during the meeting. The approved proposal includes adding new paths in the southern end of the park, making all the paths 10 feet wide and replacing the old pathways with asphalt. The new width of the pathways will comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act that comes into effect in 2016. The Ontario government will require all city pathways built after 2016 to be just less than 9.5 feet wide. The city will also plant an additional 100 trees in the park.

“All these questions we asked, they didn’t give us any reason (for this decision),” said Save Willistead Park member Howard Weeks. “You can’t make a big decision like this without valid facts and without information … like how can you know that this isn’t going to affect the tree roots and systems? It didn’t even answer that question.”

The majority of the people in attendance preferred using concrete pavers to preserve the environment in the park. The group also wanted the pathways to be six feet wide so there would be more green space. According to John Miceli, the City of Windsor’s Executive Director of Parks and Facilities, the city prefers to have all the paths in its park system to be 10 feet wide so its maintenance vehicles won’t have access issues. According to a report by the Windsor Heritage Committee, the new pathways would use about seven per cent of the space in the park. The old pathways used about three per cent.

“The six foot pathway allows for two wheelchairs to have accessibility for mobility,” said Miceli. “Willstead Park is a park that will be highly used and is highly used. We have an aging population in this community and we need to recognize that if we’re going to replace and install infrastructure, it is incumbent of us to do what we think is our due diligence.

City council rejected a proposal from Ward 4 Coun. Alan Halberstadt earlier in the meeting because of the extra costs involved. Halberstadt proposed using concrete pavers instead of asphalt, expanding the current pathways to the exact AOD standards required in 2016 and to not adding a wider path around the perimeter of the park. But Miceli said the costs to expand the current pathways with concrete pavers would cause the project to go over budget. The budget for the pathways is approximately $400,000, with one-quarter of that reserved for the pathways. Miceli said it would cost more than $320,000 to use concrete pavers.

“Council thought that it wasn’t realistic,” said Ward 3 Coun. Fulvio Valentinis. “It wasn’t realistic because of the additional costs involved and we couldn’t justify them … and council felt with the amount of money they need to use for the drainage and what we’re going to need to do repairs on (Willistead Manor), we can’t justify the additional costs.”

According to Weeks, his group will be planning a protest in the near future against the decision when the construction starts. Weeks also said he would be planning to appeal the decision with the Ontario Municipal Board because he believed city council broke a past bylaw involving the park. A bylaw was passed in 1976 when Willistead Manor was made the first heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act in Windsor. But according to a previous report by the heritage committee, only the manor was part of the designation and not the features in the park itself.

“They wanted to keep it the same historically and consistent as possible while also addressing the accessibility issues,” said Halberstadt.  “But will it keep them out of the park? Probably not. I think if they love the park, they’ll still use it.”

The city, which already started construction on a drainage system in the park, is hoping to begin working on the pathways sometime this June.