Windsor city council will be asked to address the names of some of its 209 parks because they are confusing, inappropriate, or just downright weird.
A report seeks permission to rename some parks and consolidate others.
Windsor has 2,500 acres of parks, open spaces, and natural areas listed in the Parks and Outdoor Recreational Master Plan.
The changes, if councillors approve them, will not mean any park closures or loss of acreage, but it may address confusion, repetition of names, and names that do not make sense.
Take, for example, Reaume Overflow Parking; a park on Pillette Road dedicated to extra parking for visitors to Reaume Park and Coventry Gardens. Councillors are being asked to rename it Pleasant Place Park.
A playground in Windsor, June 29, 2015. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
Plymouth Storm Water Detention does not even sound like the name of a park. That is why the recommendation is to change it to Plymouth Park.
Two parks have "Kinsmen" in the name and are not even close to each other. City administration wants to rename them Kinsmen Chatham Street Park and Kinsmen Normal Road Park.
If the location of Ypres Park confuses you, you are not alone. The entrance to Ypres Park is not off Ypres Street. That is Optimist Memorial Park. You enter Ypres Park off Somme Avenue. So, city staff want to rename it, Somme Park.
Other so-called parks listed in the master plan are not parks at all.
Coventry Gardens is actually a feature found within Reaume Park.
Bert Weeks Memorial Gardens. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle.)
Similarly, Bert Weeks Memorial Gardens and the Joan and Clifford Hatch Wildflower Garden would become features within the Great Western Park along the riverfront stretching from Aylmer Avenue to Hiram Walker near Walker Road.
Ambassador Park is a strip of land under the Ambassador Bridge. The City of Windsor does not own it, and it is not a dedicated park.
The report to council said replacing signs will have a financial impact, but said that could be incorporated into the budget for park redevelopment.