Dinah Robinson
Thanks to all of the people who came out to support Dundonald Park this year!
There were a lot of great community events from Music in the Park, to exercise programs, to family picnics. The Centretown Community Association (CCA) hosted two events that were both well attended.
The CCA’s Dundonald Park Gardening Group (DPGG) volunteers also gathered twice a week to maintain and enhance the pollinator habitat in the garden beds and central planters. There were other volunteers who regularly watered, especially during the extended periods of drought.
We have one more event planned. On Sunday, December 3, from 1 to 3 p.m., we will gather to decorate and celebrate Dundonald Park. Please join us for hot beverages, holiday cheer, and a few sweet treats. We’ll be adding some colourful decorations, edible garlands, and seed balls for the birds.
But there are some continuing problems with the park – including vandalism and theft – that need to be addressed.
Maintaining the gardens in 2023
The DPGG met twice a week, over the past six months. Even on the hottest days, the shade of the Honey Locusts kept us cool enough to do some planting or garden maintenance.
We put in over 80 native plants, through donations and funding from the CCA. Most volunteers contributed plants and supplies, as well as their time. No public funds were received for the park this year.
The weather in 2023 was challenging. Transplants do not respond well to extreme heat or extended periods of drought or torrential rain.
Flowers lost to vandalism and theft
We didn’t lose our flowers because of the weather, though. We were targeted by a large amount of vandalism and theft. Even the prickly roses were not immune.
So many plants disappeared. I started keeping the flowers at home until they no longer had their beautiful blossoms. That strategy didn’t keep them safe from theft and didn’t benefit the community or pollinators in Dundonald Park.
Many of the damaged plants appeared to have been stepped on by people walking into the gardens to relieve themselves. The park didn’t have a bathroom for most of the year. Maybe they didn’t see the flowers.
The park also has poor lighting, which allows people to hide in the bushes.
Root causes
I discussed the ongoing problems of theft and vandalism with Barbara Sibbald, the DPGG head gardener from 2020-2022.
“I see these as two separate issues with separate causes. The theft is obviously done by people who have somewhere to put the plants. Home owners or renters, housed people, who somehow see the plants as theirs to take. I think if they knew the gardens were planted and maintained by volunteers, they might not steal plants.”
We already have some signs but several of those were vandalized or removed.
“As for the vandalism, that is mostly done by people under influence of drugs and/or alcohol,” Sibbald said.
“The Beer Store needs to close. Their staff have tried to stop people from drinking in the park, but it hasn’t worked.” The garden beds are usually full of beer cans, quite likely being purchased across the road.
The Beer Store allows the sale of single cans. This business decision helps people who are income-challenged, who can’t afford to pay for a case. I believe there is more drinking and damage in Dundonald Park because of single can sales.
When people drink, they need to use a washroom. There’s a motion being considered by city council that will allow drinking in public parks. This could expand the problem in our park. I can only imagine what will happen to the proposed splash pad with more people drinking and no permanent washroom.
Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink
It’s unclear why the Dundonald water fountain repairs didn’t get prioritized in a year with so many heat warnings. The fountain was broken last winter. Someone spent half a day building a box to cover it, but no time was devoted to repairs or a temporary solution, like the one added on Bank Street.
It’s difficult to discourage one type of drinking if another option is not available. Volunteers were able to fill their water bottles from the underground hook-up. Park users didn’t have access to it.
Strategic Investments
Perhaps we need a strategic plan for Dundonald Park. It could be used to evaluate projects funded by Cash-in-Lieu of Parkland (CILP).
The March 2023 CILP reserve fund report showed that Somerset Ward has a total available fund of $5,191,672. The anticipated cost of the splash pad represents almost 10 percent of the current balance. If I was going to spend 10 percent of my savings, I would make sure I had a list of my other spending priorities. Knowing them allows you to prioritize spending options in a time of scarce resources.
At the city, they use the strategic plan to decide on the priority projects for fulfilling the goals to address issues like the housing and homelessness crisis and the climate emergency.
Hardscaping in a park (as will be done with the splash pad) – does this align with the city’s climate action goals? Adding a splash pad will eliminate irreplaceable greenspace.
There is no more space in Centretown to add a new park. Trees are already well documented for their carbon capture and cooling impact. This benefits not just the human standing in their shade but the surrounding area where the heat island effect of all the existing pavement is raising the temperature.
Out of the Shadows
“People steal and vandalize under the cover of night.” Final thoughts from Barbara could address both problems.
Motion-sensor-actuated lighting would be helpful, without being harmful to nighttime pollinators. More lighting in the gardens would help to reduce the privacy people look for in a privy and for digging up our plants, and discourage both.
Infrastructure improvements like lighting could be paid for from CILP funds.
Other problems need different services
There are rules that outline what the reserve fund can and cannot be used for. People with housing and addiction problems need services that cannot be addressed with CILP.
Inner City Health has been running a pilot project called Block Leaders, with a goal of restoring civility to our neighbourhoods by engaging the homeless. We could use that type of engagement in Dundonald Park, but project funding ends December 31.
Where’s the Hope?
There is now a porta-potty in the park – although most of the heavy users of the park who could have most benefitted from this basic accessory that most of us enjoy at home are gone for the winter. Many will return in the spring when the weather warms. Will a washroom?
Will the pollinators? They may not return without their home in our pollinator gardens. I’m still rooting for the pollinators and I won’t be giving up. But the city won’t maintain the gardens if the CCA doesn’t renew its agreement to maintain them.
Perhaps we need new signage, like Beware of Gardener. The students at Queen Elizabeth School have a new signage project to reduce dog droppings being left in their school yard.
I will be monitoring their progress.
Dinah Robinson is the lead gardener of the CCA volunteer gardening group. She is a small business owner who has lived in Centretown for 35 years.
- Seeking volunteers who love nature (April, 2023)
- Repeated plant thefts plague Dundonald Park gardeners (August, 2022)