Cross-posted to Spacing Votes — post by Julia Lo
Unless you play field hockey, it’s likely that most of you have never been to Allan A. Lamport Stadium near King and Dufferin in Parkdale. The giant stadium, which can hold approximately 9,000 spectators, is old, deteriorating, and often empty.
On Wednesday night, Parkdale-High Park councillor Sylvia Watson (who is not running for re-election as councillor after running on the Libreral ticket in the recent provincial by-election) and Doug McDonald from the Department of Parks, Forestry & Recreation held a public consultation meeting for the redevelopment of Lamport Stadium. They outlined the City’s Request for Proposal (RFP) process that will let private developers bid on the right to recreate the sports and recreational complex — with minimal public input. This was not what residents and stakeholders had in mind.
Many residents pushed for a park and recreational facilities with free community access for local sports programs. “Parkdale’s the only downtown area that doesn’t have a large park,” one resident said. Others wanted to replace the worn-out artificial turf and have a first-class field hockey stadium. Despite their differences, everyone wanted to work together and find an innovative solution.
Everyone, it seemed, but the City. For the most part, Watson and McDonald stood as apologists for the City and in particular the City Planning Division, which was notably absent. “The City has no money for this type of thing,” was a common refrain. (Parks & Recreation has $750,000 for this project, but turf replacement alone will cost $1.2 million.) McDonald also insisted that many of the residents’ proposals were beyond his mandate.
Parkdale-High Park (Ward 14) candidate Gord Perks attended the meeting and echoed the general sentiment of residents and stakeholders. “We need to start at the beginning and look at the services this community needs,” he said.
Whether Watson will incorporate residents’ suggestions into the plan for Lamport Stadium remains to be seen. However, some fear it may already be too late. When the meeting was brought to a close, one resident muttered, “We’ve lost. They’re gonna do it.”
