Neighbourhood parks in need of facelifts have been getting extra help from Toronto citizens through community-based brick-buying programs. Different areas have yielded different results.
When members of the West Forest Hill Residents Association wanted to revitalize their neighbourhood green space, a plan was put into action. In speaking with their councillor, Joe Mihevc of Ward 21, they realized that in addition to the funds allocated by the City for such a project, they could also rally the community in a fundraising initiative.
The councillor has overseen two other park re-buildings in his ward by utilizing community donations through brick-buying programs to bring in additional funds. In this case, the City of Toronto has allocated $125,000 to help rebuild Forest Hill Village Park.
“And while it may seem like a lot of money, it really goes very quickly when you’re building a new park,” says Mihevc. From his experience, engaging community fundraising helps increase the quality of the park. Based on this, Forest Hill residents wanted to follow his proven plan.
The neighbourhood has been given a deadline of December to finish fundraising so that official planning can begin. “Now we’re really going full-speed,” says Donna Bank, a resident of the area and member of the residents association. She estimates they are a third of the way to meeting the goal, which is to match Toronto's contribution. “People have been pretty generous.”
Residents can purchase objects in the park, such as bricks and benches to be engraved and remain as permanent fixtures in the new space. Small bricks are being sold for $200; large ones for $1,000.
Other parks have tried similar approaches with donation fees on a smaller scale, such as Riverdale Park’s initiative to help revitalize its pathways. Over the course of the past year, Cabbagetown Arts and Crafts Executive Director Randy Brown sold stones for $100 to $150, raising $18,000 in addition to the $5,000 put in by the not-for-profit corporation and $10,000 from the City. But the project has been stalled. While some pathways are in the midst of being repaved, stones have not yet been engraved. The project was supposed to be completed this fall, but Brown now hopes it will happen this coming spring.
In 2009, Cedarvale residents instituted the Brick by Brick program to rebuild Glen Cedar Park, which Mihevc oversaw as councillor. The community raised close to $100,000, buying the park new children’s play equipment and a rubberized surface, which Mihevc says is expensive, but is softer than common park surfaces of woodchips or sand.
The updated park “has resulted in the park becoming a kid magnet,” he says. “…The small amount of investment that the City puts into these parks yields big, big community-building results. Glen Cedar is a poster child for that.”
While it’s too early to determine how the initiative for Forest Hill Village Park will fair in comparison, Mihevc notes $16,000 was raised within the first week of fundraising.
“I think it’s important for each councillor to devise a good strategy for each of the parks that they have. We have an area where people have money and are able to contribute, in other areas we have these other funding strategies,” Mihevc says, referencing Melita, a west neighbourhood in his ward that’s working with the City to upgrade a basketball court in Frankel Lambert Park. “In a community that has money and is able to contribute and rally around it, that’s great. Other communities don’t have that ability. I think it’s important for us to always make sure that the local community is always engaged, that’s the key piece.”
Bank says it’s hard to say whether or not the traditionally affluent area will have an economic advantage when it comes to rebuilding the park, since the project is still in its infancy. “In areas where people are more affluent, you might get the builder, for example, to sponsor all the equipment or you might get someone to sponsor a few benches, but so far that hasn’t happened.”
Community members are taking ownership of the Forest Hill park, suggesting design ideas such as to create different sections for each age group. Currently, there is a problem with people smoking in the children’s area at night, leaving moms and tots to discover the cigarette butts the next morning. The plan is to have an area designated for each age group and benches arranged in a way that encourages others to hang out.
One of the benefits of having the community work towards this goal is that everyone feels they are a part of the project, both Bank and Mihevc say.
“So the design is better, there’s a sense of public ownership, people feel that they participated, and in the end, that’s what really local government is all about, is really that sense of neighbourhood and sense of community…” Mihevc says.
