posting
06-03-2007, 08:04 PM
Hello all,
1) On May 29, the MPNA met with City managers to hear what plans the City has for McBurney Park improvements this year. To make a long story short, the City hopes to combine the reconstruction of Alma and Balaclava streets (scheduled for this summer) with repaving the park pathways and the installation of park lighting infrastructure (wiring, lamppost foundations, etc.). This is welcome news because new lights and pathways are major components of the McBurney Park Renewal Plan, and combining these projects is a sensible way to keep costs down. The new pathways will be concrete (instead of the current asphalt) and about the same width. The number of lights has yet to be determined: a lighting consultant hired by the City suggested installing 13, but there were objections by the MPNA that this may be too many than necessary to provide safety, so the actual number of lights may be fewer. The work should be complete by Fall 2008.
The news about trees was less encouraging. As usual, McBurney Park's previous life as a burial ground is proving to be a serious problem, as before digging a hole to plant a tree, an archeological assessment must be done to ensure the site is clear of human remains. Because of this requirement, planting a single tree at this point could easily cost several thousand dollars. This is ridiculous and frustrating for all concerned, and the City says it is working with the provincial Registrar of Cemeteries to devise a protocol that would ultimately bring planting costs down as much as possible. The bottom line is that it's unlikely we'll see many new trees planted this year. The MPNA would still like to see some dead trees removed and dangerous limbs pruned, and the Association will continue to press the City for this.
2) Next Saturday (June 9) there will be a Fish Fry at Queen's Street United Church (at the corner of Clergy & Queen streets). The dinner takes place between 6 and 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children, or $30 per family (2 adults and 2 children 12 or under).To purchase tickets, call the church office at 613-542-3818.
3) FRILL Garden Party: The FRILL (Friends Revitalizing Industrial Land Lovingly) community garden is holding a benefit concert next Sunday. As many of you know, the FRILL community garden is located in an empty lot just east of the No Frills grocery store on Bagot Street; over the past couple of years it has become a popular summer gathering place for neighbourhood gardeners.
Date: Sunday, June 10th
Location: Central Public School (237 Sydenham St.)
Time: 1 PM
Bands: Butterfingers; Annie Clifford, The Lady Racers, Nathan Lawr
Tickets: Sliding Scale of $8-15; tickets are available at Brian's Records & Tara Natural Foods. You can also call 613 542 5620 to order tickets.
4) The Skeleton Park Music Festival is coming up on June 23. You may recall that the MPNA"2(¢cÿÿÿÿlZb holds its annual Summer Solstice festival on the same day; as part of that celebration, association volunteers coordinate activities in a Children's Area. Below is a list of some of the items that area needs for arts & crafts. Items can be dropped off either at Mark Peters (32 Pine St.) or Rae Brackenbury’s (11 Redan St.).
Tissue paper
Glue
Felt – can be scraps
Wallpaper samples
Yarn
Fabric scraps
Elastics
Food coloring
Packing tape dispensers
We could also use picture books that be used for a quiet reading area. Please do not send books that you want returned. They will be re-used. We also need donations to the bake sale (date squares., cookies, etc.) -- PLEASE, NO ITEMS CONTAINING NUTS. If you can contribute something, please call Sharon Way-Brackenbury at 547-5188.
4) Here are some announcements and invitations on the subject of neighbourhood history submitted by Alma Street resident Laura Murray. Despite the fact that she is temporarily living in New York City, Laura has continued to work with Jamie Swift on a wonderful project she describes below.
ONE: Good News: the Kingston Historical Society is going ahead with a plaque to mark the cemetery in McBurney Park. It's all written and funded. Plans are to unveil it the weekend of September 29-30. It will go in the central planter, on the cannon side, with the English text facing the cannon.
John Grenville at the Kingston Historical Society is coordinating this enterprise & event. Which leads me to:
TWO: Being fans of walking tours we've taken in other major metropolises, Jamie Swift and I are undertaking to offer a walking tour of the area surrounding the park, which we'll run a couple of times on that September weekend to partner with the unveiling. We want to concentrate not only on buildings and the distant past, but on the life of the community in the twentieth century, since the park became the park.
To gather material, we will be trying to interview as many long-time residents as we can. We hope that these interviews may become part of a longer-term local history archive, and if the project grows it will need more interviewers, but we'll get it started and see what happens.
We'd be very grateful for information and contacts you can provide: did you grow up in the neighbourhood? do you have a neighbour who did? did you meet a taxi driver who did? We're interested in people of all ages, people who currently live here or who have moved away, and really anybody who might have a good story or two. The people certainly do not have to be experts or big talkers--if it's one story they have, one story we'll take. For the purposes of the walking tour, reminiscences about particular places--buildings or street corners or schools--are super.
THREE: Do you have any ideas about local history events you'd like to initiate or help to plan? A couple of others we thought of were, a "kids' tour of the park and the neighbourhood" which could draw on the materials Jamie and I collect, and/or some kind of artistic event or installation in the park or in a nearby space. If you're interested in working on either of these, or have another idea or question, do let us know. Our contact info: Laura Murray (laura.murray@queensu.ca (laura.murray@queensu.ca)) and Jamie Swift (jswift6@sympatico.ca or 542-8292).
That's all for now. I wish you all a great summer. See you in the park!
Alec
Alec Ross
Co-ordinator
McBurney Park Neighbourhood Association (MPNA)
www.mcburneypark.ca (http://www.mcburneypark.ca)
1) On May 29, the MPNA met with City managers to hear what plans the City has for McBurney Park improvements this year. To make a long story short, the City hopes to combine the reconstruction of Alma and Balaclava streets (scheduled for this summer) with repaving the park pathways and the installation of park lighting infrastructure (wiring, lamppost foundations, etc.). This is welcome news because new lights and pathways are major components of the McBurney Park Renewal Plan, and combining these projects is a sensible way to keep costs down. The new pathways will be concrete (instead of the current asphalt) and about the same width. The number of lights has yet to be determined: a lighting consultant hired by the City suggested installing 13, but there were objections by the MPNA that this may be too many than necessary to provide safety, so the actual number of lights may be fewer. The work should be complete by Fall 2008.
The news about trees was less encouraging. As usual, McBurney Park's previous life as a burial ground is proving to be a serious problem, as before digging a hole to plant a tree, an archeological assessment must be done to ensure the site is clear of human remains. Because of this requirement, planting a single tree at this point could easily cost several thousand dollars. This is ridiculous and frustrating for all concerned, and the City says it is working with the provincial Registrar of Cemeteries to devise a protocol that would ultimately bring planting costs down as much as possible. The bottom line is that it's unlikely we'll see many new trees planted this year. The MPNA would still like to see some dead trees removed and dangerous limbs pruned, and the Association will continue to press the City for this.
2) Next Saturday (June 9) there will be a Fish Fry at Queen's Street United Church (at the corner of Clergy & Queen streets). The dinner takes place between 6 and 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children, or $30 per family (2 adults and 2 children 12 or under).To purchase tickets, call the church office at 613-542-3818.
3) FRILL Garden Party: The FRILL (Friends Revitalizing Industrial Land Lovingly) community garden is holding a benefit concert next Sunday. As many of you know, the FRILL community garden is located in an empty lot just east of the No Frills grocery store on Bagot Street; over the past couple of years it has become a popular summer gathering place for neighbourhood gardeners.
Date: Sunday, June 10th
Location: Central Public School (237 Sydenham St.)
Time: 1 PM
Bands: Butterfingers; Annie Clifford, The Lady Racers, Nathan Lawr
Tickets: Sliding Scale of $8-15; tickets are available at Brian's Records & Tara Natural Foods. You can also call 613 542 5620 to order tickets.
4) The Skeleton Park Music Festival is coming up on June 23. You may recall that the MPNA"2(¢cÿÿÿÿlZb holds its annual Summer Solstice festival on the same day; as part of that celebration, association volunteers coordinate activities in a Children's Area. Below is a list of some of the items that area needs for arts & crafts. Items can be dropped off either at Mark Peters (32 Pine St.) or Rae Brackenbury’s (11 Redan St.).
Tissue paper
Glue
Felt – can be scraps
Wallpaper samples
Yarn
Fabric scraps
Elastics
Food coloring
Packing tape dispensers
We could also use picture books that be used for a quiet reading area. Please do not send books that you want returned. They will be re-used. We also need donations to the bake sale (date squares., cookies, etc.) -- PLEASE, NO ITEMS CONTAINING NUTS. If you can contribute something, please call Sharon Way-Brackenbury at 547-5188.
4) Here are some announcements and invitations on the subject of neighbourhood history submitted by Alma Street resident Laura Murray. Despite the fact that she is temporarily living in New York City, Laura has continued to work with Jamie Swift on a wonderful project she describes below.
ONE: Good News: the Kingston Historical Society is going ahead with a plaque to mark the cemetery in McBurney Park. It's all written and funded. Plans are to unveil it the weekend of September 29-30. It will go in the central planter, on the cannon side, with the English text facing the cannon.
John Grenville at the Kingston Historical Society is coordinating this enterprise & event. Which leads me to:
TWO: Being fans of walking tours we've taken in other major metropolises, Jamie Swift and I are undertaking to offer a walking tour of the area surrounding the park, which we'll run a couple of times on that September weekend to partner with the unveiling. We want to concentrate not only on buildings and the distant past, but on the life of the community in the twentieth century, since the park became the park.
To gather material, we will be trying to interview as many long-time residents as we can. We hope that these interviews may become part of a longer-term local history archive, and if the project grows it will need more interviewers, but we'll get it started and see what happens.
We'd be very grateful for information and contacts you can provide: did you grow up in the neighbourhood? do you have a neighbour who did? did you meet a taxi driver who did? We're interested in people of all ages, people who currently live here or who have moved away, and really anybody who might have a good story or two. The people certainly do not have to be experts or big talkers--if it's one story they have, one story we'll take. For the purposes of the walking tour, reminiscences about particular places--buildings or street corners or schools--are super.
THREE: Do you have any ideas about local history events you'd like to initiate or help to plan? A couple of others we thought of were, a "kids' tour of the park and the neighbourhood" which could draw on the materials Jamie and I collect, and/or some kind of artistic event or installation in the park or in a nearby space. If you're interested in working on either of these, or have another idea or question, do let us know. Our contact info: Laura Murray (laura.murray@queensu.ca (laura.murray@queensu.ca)) and Jamie Swift (jswift6@sympatico.ca or 542-8292).
That's all for now. I wish you all a great summer. See you in the park!
Alec
Alec Ross
Co-ordinator
McBurney Park Neighbourhood Association (MPNA)
www.mcburneypark.ca (http://www.mcburneypark.ca)