Laroche Park second round consultation

On October 25, residents had a chance to see how plans for the park have evolved since the first consultation round this summer. I'm very pleased at the degree to which planners have taken that first feedback into account as we prepare to build a new fieldhouse onsite, implement a Sens rink, replace the play equipment and do associated soil remediation. Thanks to everyone who attended - it was a great turnout and more than one person remarked that we're seeing a good cross-section of resident demographics becoming engaged. That's excellent.

Based on initial resident feedback to the most recent plans, we're well along the path to a very positive outcome. I heard some concerns with which we still need to deal. A possible fenced-in dog run in the southeast corner of the site has not been positively received, and there is significant pushback to additional parking that absolutely resonates with me. I will also be exploring the plan to implement gender-specific washrooms on the exterior of the fieldhouse; it's surprising that in 2018 we'd be contemplating gender-specificity.

The potential for a relatively small skateboard feature was raised at the consultation meeting. We'll explore that, but it is likely out of the scope of this project - the only significant new features in the park are contemplated to be the rink and fieldhouse, both of which have funding sources. A skate park is next up in our ward parks plan funded by cash-in-lieu of parkland money.

The full presentation is available by clicking the .pdf below (9.45 MB). I'd like to hear your thoughts! Write to me in the next few weeks to let me know what you think, and please copy your comments to louise.cerveny@ottawa.ca. Please consider also copying your comments to the Mechanicsville Community Association who have been very actively involved with this project at all stages. They're at mechanicsvilleca@gmail.com.