Menu Close

Community Events

2018 Events

April 22: Earth Day in Belle Park

The Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour were delighted to help organize this day long event in partnership with Ollin and the Kingston National Indigenous People’s Day team, and with support from the Canadian Mental Health Association, Kingston Community Health Centre’s Special Events team and Sustainable Kingston. A wonderful inclusive celebration of Planet Earth.

May 2: Cataraqui Canoe Club Open House

Thanks to a grant from Trailhead, we organized a turtle info table to familiarize canoers and kayakers with the kinds of turtles they might see in their adventures and where they might look.  Kenny and Eric from the ReptileandAmphibianAdvocacy.com were the stars.  ID info thanks to the Toronto Zoo.  Turtle artifacts courtesy of the Kingston Field Naturalists.

May 4: Beyond Classrooms

A morning presentation at the Little Cataraqui Conservation Area to a Grade 6 class from Madeleine de Roybon Elementary School.  Special thanks to the Kingston Field Naturalists for the loan of their turtle artifacts.  Students really wanted to help our turtle projects in some way.  On the last day of school, they presented us with a cheque for $?? that they had raised to help with our gps monitoring project.

May 5: Jane’s Walks

In memory of urban activist, Jane Jacobs, Jane’s Walks are now held yearly in many cities around the world.  This year, Roger Healey, treasurer of FKIH, led a cycling tour on the stretch of the new K&P Trail  going from Belle Park to John Counter Blvd.  Fascinating old stone infrastructure noted.  This tour started in Belle Park at noon.   Mention was made of the cycling and pedestrian overpass over John Counter and the Railway that Roger and Mary have been promoting to deal with the problematic section of the K&P Trail at the intersection of John Counter and Division. 

Later, at 4 pm, Mary Farrar did a walking tour from Anglin Bay to the Woolen Mill and back entitled KIngston’s Inner Harbour: Past, Present and Future.  Aspects of Kingston’s Indigenous, French, British, Industrial and Natural Heritage were discussed along with issues of development and stewardship of the Inner Harbour.

May 6: Trail Clean-Up

Thanks so very much to our stalwart group or organizers from Cataraqui St. including Kendra Noble, Harriet and Karen and Bill Dufenais.  Awesome as always.  Wonderful turnout!  Wonderful work! And wonderful donations from Bread and Butter Bakery.  Yey!

May 23: World Turtle Day

FKIH, in partnership with Ollin and with support from the Community Foundation, World Wildlife Canada, Turning Bear, Kingston Interval House, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the City of Kingston,  Utilities Kingston Water Buggy, McLaughlin Woodworking Museum, Pump House Museum, Surefoot Yoga, Kingston Field Naturalists, Toronto Zoo and ReptileandAmphibianAdvocacy.com, a wonderful celebration was held.  A lot happened including an Indigenous welcome, turtle rock painting, a ninja turtle visit, community turtle mural, live turtle and snake along with turtle artifacts and info, face painting, water conservation activities, turtle island puppets, and an intergenerational and international community drum circle with turtle and Mother Earth songs in a variety of languages.

May 27 and June 3:  Turtle Awareness Days

From noon until 5 pm on each of these Sundays, turtle artifacts, a shoreline walk, ID materials and children’s craft were organized for community members to come and find out about our local Inner Harbour turtle population.  Thanks to the Community Foundation, Kingston Field Naturalists and the Toronto Zoo for their support.

June 5 – 30 with Open House June 10: Facing the Street Exhibit

Sponsored by the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour, the Swampward and Inner Harbour History Project created a lively display of old photos of residents in the 40s and 50s placed where the photos were taken years ago.  A fascinating door into the past.  FKIH has been happy to sponsor this project as their official umbrella charitable organization.

June 5 and June 8: Turtle ID Workshops

These evening workshops included a shoreline stroll and were designed for FKIH volunteers engaged in our citizen-science monitoring project to make them feel more comfortable and confident with their turtle identification skills.  Once again, thanks to the Community Foundation, the Kingston Field Naturalists and the Toronto Zoo for their support.

June 7: Great Lake Water Festival

By invitation from the Limestone Board of Education, we organized a turtle display.  Thanks so much to the Kingston Field Naturalists for their artifacts,the Toronto Zoo for their ID materials, and to Kenny from ReptileandAmphibian Advocacy.com and Katie Walker, our two staff members this summer thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area.  This amazing event is devoted to water from a variety of perspectives.  Grade 4 students from all over the board come to this very popular annual event.  Over 400 students were exposed to turtles and why we should care about them.

June 10: Wheelchair Rally

In partnership with Kingston Community Health Centres, KidsInclusive, Easter Seals, Ongwanada, the Kingston Health Sciences Centre, S5, the Canadian Mental Health Association and Ollin we were delighted to organize this event once again.  Last year, it won an Accessibility Award from Kingston’s Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee!  Dignitaries included Mayor Paterson and MP Mark Gerretsen.  Iranian Wheelchair Dancers were the featured entertainment doing a performance and also a lesson.  But the real highlight was the chance for wheelchair users to experience the wonderful accessible waterfront trail in the wheelchairs.

June 20:  Evening Sangria Social

A lovely warm evening of appreciation in Doug Fluhrer Park for all of our citizen-science volunteers.

From 5-7 pm including a shoreline walk.

June 20: Calliope Collective’s Summer Solstice Celebration

Although FKIH was not officially involved with this 7 pm performance, we tried to publicize it as a lively and inclusive use of Doug Fluhrer Park.  Well done!

June 23/24:  Skeleton Park Arts Festival

FKIH had a table at this festival on both the Saturday and the Sunday with our usual display, thanks to Kenny Ruelland, of a live turtle and snake.  Thanks are also due to the Community Foundation for a grant to hire both Kenny Ruelland and Katie Walker for our turtle monitoring project as well as the Kingston Field Naturalists and the Toronto Zoo.  The table was very well attended.

July 12:  Paddle and Pint

A great evening (starting at 6 pm) thanks to a grant from Trailhead to introduce paddlers to what they might find by way of turtles in their evening paddle.  And actually Michelle from Trailhead sent in a photo of a Musk Turtle that they saw near Fort Henry.  Well done!

July ?: Paddlers meet Turtles

An event being organized by Katie and Kenny with Trailhead grant money – tba.

August 4: Princess St. Promenade

Once again this year, the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour has a table promoting the main Inner Harbour initiatives currently upfront and centre: turtles, the accessible overpass, and pressing heritage and environmental stewardship issues.  Thanks once again to the Community Foundation, the Kingston Field Naturalists and the Toronto Zoo for their huge and ongoing support of our turtle initiatives.

2017 EVENTS

April 22: Earth Day, K&P Trail Clean up

April 23-29: Pitch In Week

June 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th : Turtle Awareness Project.
Thanks to the Community Foundation, the Turtle Awareness Project was possible. Leaders included Kenny Ruelland of reptileandamphibianadvocacy.com with his live turtles and snakes as well as two Biology students from Queen’s University. Traditional Knowledge Keepers were present at each event to share Indigenous teachings. In addition, artefacts and printed materials were generously loaned from the Kingston Field Naturalists and donated by the Toronto Zoo’s Adopt a Pond program. A craft was organized where kids could paint rocks into turtles.

community events2 2017
community events3
community events 2017
 

June 5 : Welcoming C3 and creating bird, bee and butterfly houses.
C3 is a boat that is travelling up the Atlantic, through the Northwest Passage and down the Pacific. Participants include scientists and artists and a diverse group of citizens. On June 5, they stopped in KIngston and were welcomed to Doug Fluhrer Park by the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour. Thanks to support from Lee Valley, participants built some bird, bee and butterfly condos that will be installed in the park at some future date. The visit also included a shoreline walk observing wildlife, traditional Indigenous teachings as well as a drum circle led by Yessi Belsham Rivera.

June 10: Grand Opening – Urban section of the K&P Trail
June 10 marked the official opening of the Urban portion of the K&P Trail complete with bench dedicated to Doug Knapp, the K&P Trail’s initiator and 35 year supporter, ribbon cutting and displays along the trail by 40 or so different organizations. The Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour are happy to have had the opportunity to support this K&P Trail initiative in recent years.
https://cityofkingston.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=efca572f91d24cddac817af7d2fb5ab0


June 27: GPS Locating of Turtle Nests
Queen’s students Aaron Sneep and Dayna Zunder came to the park on June 27 and GPS located 51 protected turtle nests.  There were also 8 nests that were predated that hadn’t been covered and 2 nests that had been predated that had been covered.  So a total of 59 so far! it would appear that our covers are making a difference.  

July 18th: GPS Locating of Turtle Nests. Part 2
Second iteration now that the first batch of nests have all been uncovered and the second batch is ready to record.  See their map of the sites up to June 27. 

Video of the GPS Locatins by Dave McCallum: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARM37OYJ9ls&feature=youtu.be

July 18: Wheelchair Rally on new K&P Trail
Wheelchair Rally
In recent years, policy has been to integrate people with disabilities into the community at large. However, this has meant that no events have occurred specifically for smaller groups within the disabled community where they can have a chance to share fun experiences. The Wheelchair Rally hopes to fill that gap. In partnership with Easter Seals Ontario and the Kingston Community Health Centres, we are organizing an event where wheelchair users will go from Doug Fluhrer Park up to Quattrochi’s and back. Refreshments and a craft will be provided. We are grateful to the Community Foundation’s Canada 150 grant program for supporting this event.

August 21-26 – ON THE WALL street art festival with Celebration of the Arts on Sat, Aug 26.
We are grateful to the Community Foundation’s Canada 150 Grant program for their support for the Celebration of the Arts that will occur on the final Saturday of this event – Aug 26. The Celebration of the Arts is a participatory arts event where participants will be free to join in one or more arts activities.
The street art event, ON THE WALL, will go from Aug 21 – 26. On June 6, Council unanimously supported waiving the graffiti by-law for a week to allow artists to create works on the wall without fear of arrests or fines. In 2014, this event won the Kingstonist’s award for being the most exciting new arts event of the year.

October 5: Turtle Party
A celebration for all of the work done by our many volunteers involved in the past summer’s turtle monitoring project. Free dinner with summary presentation by Lesley Rudy on our citizen-scientist work.

December 20: “The Longest Night”
Marvelous Solstice event organized by the Calliope Collective involving giant puppets representing the Oak King and the Holly King who according to Celtic mythology, battle it out on the Longest Night and the Longest day. On the longest night, the Oak King wins to signal the coming of spring. FKIH was happy to sponsor this event by providing insurance coverage under our auspices.

2016 EVENTS

April 9: Spring Trail Clean-up, 9:00 am – noon.

April 10: Spring Wildlife Tour with the Kingston Field Naturalists and WellingtonX
9 am – 10:30 am, Douglas R. Fluhrer Park

April 23: Doug Fluhrer Park Clean-up, morning

April 27: Steve Manders and the history of the K&P
Steve has spent the last 10 years researching the rail history of the area.  Amazing pics and info of the Inner Harbour area.  His presentation is about the people and economics along the K&P with many great photos of past and present.

May and June: Turtle Tally, Doug Fluhrer Park
Looking for volunteers to a walk through the park looking in the water and along the retaining wall.  Sign up for just once or a few times! 613-544-1246 for more info.

May 7-8: Jane’s Walk Weekend

May 15: Woolen Mill Experience! 11:30am – 3:30pm

June 7: Turtle Awareness Evening, 5:30-8 pm
Douglas R. Fluhrer Park, Wellington St.
Inter-generational Intercultural event hosted in partnership with Kingston’s National Aboriginal Day Committee. Activities for all ages.  Free light refreshments. Fun evening.

For stories and photos see Turtle Awareness Evening, Snapd Kingston July 2016, and Turtles’ Best Friend, Kingston This Week, June 30, 2016.

June 22:  BBQ co-hosted by the City and the Skeleton Park Arts Festival, Douglas R Fluhrer Park

July 7: KAIROS BLANKET EXERCISE, 5:30-8:00 pm, Doug R. Fluhrer Park

Blanket exercise4 Blanket exercise2
Blanket exercise3 Blanket exercise1

July 12: Informal get-together in Doug Fluhrer Park, 5:30-8:00pm. We plan on pulling up the nest covers so as to ensure that no hatchlings are trapped.  The first nest we covered was on June 4 and gestation takes 60 days so we should be in good shape.

See Chairs for Turtles a video of this event by David McCallum.

July 17th, 12-3pm: REALLY, REALLY FREE MARKET, Douglas Fluhrer Park (north end near Dufferin St). Rain location: 75 Queen St (up the ramp).

July 18th, 7-8:30pm.Soundwalk

September 17, Kingston Dragon Boat Festival,  Doug Fluhrer Park

September 18, Really Really Free Market. Doug Fluhrer Park

2015 EVENTS

April 25: Doug Fluhrer Park Annual Spring Clean-up

May 3: Jane’s Walks –  Kingston’s Inner Harbour. Stories from the past and the present.
A walking tour will begin at Anglin Bay Parking Lot at 1pm on Sun. May 3. Intriguing characters, events and stories will be highlighted. Proceeding north through Doug Fluhrer Park to Cataraqui St. a number of heritage concerns, historical points of interest and future visioning will be pointed out. On the way back the Molly Brant bust behind Rideaucrest will be visited, touching on Kingston’s Aboriginal past.

June 21: Sunday cycle:  Explore the Old Rail Lines from John Counter to Doug Fluhrer Park

TGIF Family Fridays in the Park – every Friday in July

July 3: Queen’s Barefoot Players production: “All the World is a Stage” followed by drama workshop for kids.

July 10: Kingston Field Naturalists workshop for kids followed by a community BBQ and games organized by Wellingtonx.

July 17: Matt Ellerbeck, Salamander, Snake and Turtle Man and Gary Raspberry’s children’s musical performance.

July 31: Queen’s Barefoot Players production: ‘All the World is a Stage”  followed by drama workshop for kids.

August 9th: Really, Really Free Market – Doug Fluhrer Park
An RRFM is a where everything is FREE. Bring stuff to give away (not necessary) or take things you need.

Sept 13: Really, Really Free Market-  Doug Fluhrer Park

Sept 19: Limestone City Dragon Boat Festival – Doug Fluhrer Park
Come out and try Dragon Boating! No experience necessary A great new way to stay fit, have fun and socialize

September 20th: Life and Labour in the Inner Harbour – Tour
The Swamp Ward and Inner Harbour History Project (SWIHHP) will be leading a walking tour of the Inner Harbour. Inspired originally by Mary’s Inner Harbour tour, this new version includes new material and research that SWIHHP has gathered this summer.

September 20: Really, Really Free Market –  Doug Fluhrer Park

October 25: Inner Harbour Wildlife Tour –  Doug Fluhrer Park

2014 EVENTS

PICNICS IN THE PARK — AUGUST 2014 SCHEDULE

When: Every Friday, 4-6pm
Where: Doug Fluhrer ParK

Aug 1 – Drumming circle by Kingston Drum Circle, & games by the Boys and Girls Club

Aug 8 – Barefoot Players performance of “Dream a Little Dream” followed by a FREE drama workshop

Aug 15 – Shoreline hike and scavenger hunt (starting point TBD, details to follow)

Aug 22 –Presentation by Matt Ellerbeck on salamanders and conservation & Bouncy Castle Fun by Boys and Girls Club

Aug 29 – FREE Improv Workshop followed by water balloon fun

Other Community Events

Park Clean-Ups, 2014

April 27: Doug Fluhrer Park

May 24: Old Rail Line from River St. to Belle Park. Thanks so much to all who participated.  This year, because our clean-up date followed Kingston’s Pitch-In day, a lot of the work had already been done and we were free to devote ourselves to cleaning up the wall for our ON THE WALL street art event.  Special thanks to Kendra Noble for organizing this year’s trail clean-up and to her mother for creating the super poster that was effectively placed along the trail prior to the event. The best turn-out ever!  And the trail looked wonderful for our ride with the mayor that was part of this year’s Commuter Challenge.  We do want to show the world just how amazing our beautiful trail can be.

September:  Date and time still to be arranged for this year’s shoreline clean-up. www.shorelinecleanup.ca

Spring and Summer Events, 2014 (Also see Calendar)

May 6: Delegation to City Council to waive the Graffiti By-Law to allow artists to create ON THE WALL, Kingston’s first ever juried street art festival.  We are grateful to all City Councillors who approved this motion unanimously.  Check out the ON THE WALL tab on this webpage for further details.

May 21:  Downtown Business Improvement Association AGM. We are grateful to Doug Ritchie and staff of the Downtown BIA for offering us the opportunity to set up a table to promote our ON THE WALL FESTIVAL at their event.

June 2:  Commuter Challenge  This year the event was organized by the KFL&A Health Unit  Once again, a group of cycle enthusiasts rode from Belle Park to Market Square with the mayor to show the world our beautiful trail and to have fun riding along the trail to the free Roll-In Breakfast.

June 4: Presentation to Downtown Action Revitalization Network (DARN) We are grateful for the support of this vibrant group and are looking forward to their participation in the Celebration of Artists and the Arts on Aug 23  – the celebratory part of ON THE WALL.

June 19: Pitch to Awesome Kingston We are most grateful to Awesome Kingston for awarding us the $1000 June prize.  This gives us the funds to pay the City to rent the park for our ON THE WALL street art event.

June 23: City of Kingston’s Transportation Master Plan Public Meeting.  Unfortunately this public meeting was not really a chance to discuss anything in any meaningful way.  A real disappointment.

June 25:  Waterfront Working Group Public Meeting.  Following last year’s Shoreline Shuffle event, the City decided to act on making Kingston’s waterfront more coherently accessible.  In contrast to the Transportation Master Plan Public Meeting, this was excellent.  Lots of opportunity for public input.

June 30: Emergency Council meeting to save the threatened Bailey B room Company.  We were successful in stopping the immanent demolition of this treasure.  Click the Bailey Broom tab for further details.

Summer Wednesdays in Doug Fluhrer Park:  Each Wednesday evening, Trailhead has been organizing their ever popular Paddle and Pint.  Setting off in Doug Fluhrer Park for a two hour kayak trip followed by a beer at a local pub is a perennial favourite.  www.trailheadkingston.ca for details

Summer Friday Family Picnics in Doug Fluhrer Park: Each Friday evening, Burgandy Dunn and friends have been organizinig wonderful family TGIF evenings in the park that include an activity organized by the Boys and Girls Club (e.g. Bouncy Castle, Parachute games, stories, crafts) as well as another fun activity such as the Barefoot Players, creating musical instruments, learning about Salamanders etc.  Healthy snacks provided.  And families are welcome to bring their own picnics to enjoy the beautiful evenings.  Check out www.facebook.com/picnicsinthepark for further details and pics.

Aug 16,17:  Caravan Stage Theatre on a barge, live offshore at the Woolen Mill. This wonderfully energetic troup of actors is returning to Kingston where they built their barge 20 years ago to perform their lively show.  Audience on shore.  9 pm.  Donations accepted.

Aug 18-24: ON THE WALL, Kingston’s first ever juried street art festival.  Twenty two artists will be painting on the retaining wall behind Rideaucrest for the week.  Come and watch from noon until 8 pm each day. We are grateful to founding sponsors:  Berkom, LeBlanc and Wilcox founding sponsors, to  Wallack’s, the Rockitt Boutique and Living Rooms for offering discounts on their paints and to Donovan Painting and Decorating for their generous donation of free primer for all 4000 sq. ft. of wall and to everyone who has been giving us a bit of money here and there, especially through our INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN!   Check it out at www.indiegogo.com/projects/onthewall

Aug 23: Celebration of Artists and the Arts.  In conjunction with ON THE WALL, Saturday will be a chance to celebrate their work.  The mayor will be present to cut the cake at 3 pm. Community artists and groups will lead fun participatory activities throughout the afternoon and evening from 3 – 8 pm.  Food and drink on hand as well as display tables from a variety of community organizations.

 2013 EVENTS

April 28: Doug Fluhrer Park, and
May 5: Old Rail Line from River St. to Belle Park
Thanks so much to all who turned out to help and to the Bread and Butter Bakery, the Sleepless Goat, Quattrocchi’s, the Main St Market, and Costco for their generosity in providing fruit, coffee and goodies. See pics in Gallery.
September 27: Doug Fluhrer Park This year once again David Austin from OHIP took charge of the noon hour clean-up. Visit www.shorelinecleanup.ca and type in your postal code to bring up the site for registration.

Spring and Summer Events, 2013

June 7, about 30 keen cyclists participated in Kingston’s Commuter Challenge. Mayor Mark Gerretsen agreed to lead a group of us on a drizzly morning and ride from Belle Park to Market Square where we were treated to a free “Roll\In Breakfast” provided by Cycle Kingston. Fun. See pics in Gallery.
June 22, we shared in a History Tour of the McBurney Park and Inner Harbour neighbourhoods, looking at local stories of who lived where and who did what over the last 100 years or so. Organized by Jamie Swift and Laura Murray, it was a fascinating glimpse into the past.
On June 23, we helped organize the “Shoreline Shuffle”, a dramatic event, drawing attention to Kingston’s waterfront and the need for an integrated waterfront plan. David McDonald, Lea Westlake and the Water Access Group have organized mass swims in the past to draw attention to the need for more waterfront access. This year it was a walk, cycle, kayak, canoe adventure from Doug Fluhrer Park to Lake Ontario Park for its grand opening – almost 8 kms! Su Sheedy, artist and curator, organized 15 word sculptures that were placed strategically along the waterfront to draw attention, in an ironic way, to the beauty, the ugly, the accessibility and the inaccessibility of our waterfront. Visit www.wateraccessgroup.weebly.com for excellent videos of the event.

In July, we held our usual Family Wednesday afternoons:
July 3: Queen’s Barefoot Players with their lively rendition of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
July 10: Eco-Art. Creating rock creatures with Googly Eyes to decorate the park Look along the shoreline!
July 17: Pottery paw prints for your pets and playing with clay courtesy of Jane Thelwell of Anglin Bay Potter.
Evening, Doggie Meet and Greet with free treats and a lucky draw provided by Urban Paws
July 24: Queeen’s Barefoot Players with their lively rendition of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
July 31: Stories in the Park presented by the Public Library.
“All about snakes and turtles”. Skins and shells courtesy Anne Robertson & the Field Naturalists.
Evening Doggie Meet and Greet with free treats and a lucky draw provided by Urban Paws
Thanks so much Quattrocchi’s, Bread and Butter Bakery, Food Basics, Costco and the Sleepless Goat.

August 6, we were happy to welcome the Rideau Canal Voyageur Canoe Brigade who set off from Doug Fluhrer Park at the paddling trail head of the Frontenac Arch Paddling Trails group to paddle to Confederation Basin for an official welcome from the City. Thanks so much to Dugald Carmichael of the Cataraqui Canoe Club for spearheading this event. Councilor Rob Hutchison welcomed the group to Doug Fluhrer Park and Councilor Dorothy Hector gave the official welcome at Confederation Basin. Thanks also to the singers who arrived to sing a voyageur song to send off the paddlers. A really fun event.

September 21, two great Inner Harbour events: The Boiler Room’s Climb for the Cure and the Kingston’s Dragon Boat Festival. See September update.

Visioning Exercise for Douglas R. Fluhrer Park, 2013

The first public meeting was held on June 12, following a community stakeholder’s meeting on May 29. Consultants Michael Tocher and Peter Heyblom of thinc design gave an overview of the history and geography of Douglas R.Fluhrer Park. Assembled participants then broke into groups and brainstormed about what they like about the park, what they dislike about the park, what activities they do and when in the park and what top three improvements they would like to see in the park. Each group reported back to the whole and the comments were collected for a future report.
Notes: There was considerable agitation in the crowd of approximately 100 people concerning the Wellington St. Extension. We were told at the outset that allowance had to be made in the plan for a future Wellington St. Extension. Neil Unsworth gave people approximately 40 minutes to share grievances about the extension before the visioning exercise began. In addition, an open letter to the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour was passed out stating that no development at all should also be an option.

A second public meeting was held on July 20, following a second (July 10) stakeholder’s meeting. Results from the first series of consultations were shared showing people’s priorities re the park. A number of participants subsequently wrote letters to Neal Unsworth and Kris Hebert of the City’s Parks department as well as to the two consultants from thinc design with additional thoughts and suggestions.

As part of the visioning exercise, Stephanie Scibberas of the Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Health Unit, in collaboration with Kris Hebert of the City’s Parks department did several surveys of Doug Fluhrer Park to study park usage. These surveys occurred on Thursday, July 18, Friday, July 19 and Sunday, July 21. Times ranged from 7-8 am to 7-8 pm. Volunteers were trained in a short training session prior to data collection. Data collected from two of our Family Wednesday afternoon events were also submitted. Data examined included ages of people in the park, activities engaged in, time spent in the park and ethnicity.

The consultants are still working on their initial draft report. According to the original estimation, it was supposed to have been completed in late August leading to a completion of the visioning exercise by late October. These things take time.

Issues, 2013

Wellington St. Extension
An excellent article in the Whig Standard by Michael Cole-Hamilton with REASONS AGAINST THE WELLINGTON ST. EXTENSION
(http://www.thewhig.com/2013/08/21/the-case-against-the-wellington-st-extension)

A comment followed that we have not included because we felt it was not very well informed in terms of the complexity of the issues.
My letter to the editor of the Kingston Whig Standard stated:

“Clearly the arguments both for and against the Wellington St. Extension need to be addressed in some sort of public forum. Mike Cole-Hamilton’s forward-looking Aug 22 piece raised important reasons why it is not a good idea. George Dillon’s more traditional view was expressed in his Aug 28 piece. A lot was left unsaid. In truth, the issue is simply too complicated to fully address in half-page opinion pieces. The City is divided. Local residents are divided. Further complicating the issue is the City’s current move from a car culture to a more sustainable mix of transportation modes, encouraging walking, cycling and transit as well as cars. A transit pass now costs less than a downtown parking permit. Changes in modes of transportation and changes in life-style require thought and discussion with plenty of opportunity for widespread public input.”

Other Public Meetings, 2013

Public Meeting re Future of Belle Park
On January 29, 2013, the City of Kingston held a public information meeting at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour to discuss the future of Belle Park. The consultant’s report stated that there were four possible options: a) maintain the current golf course, b) privatize the golf course, c) create a “passive park”, or d) create a passive park that would include a 30 acre solar farm. A number of members of the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour attended the meeting and were vocal in their objection to the solar farm option. Since then a new community organization has been created, the Friends of Belle Park. These are advocates for keeping the golf course. They are a skilled group including a golf course designer, a golf professional, a golf course manager and a lawyer. They have been working very hardtrying to determine how to manage the site effectively, It has not been adequately maintained by the City for a number of years. The problem is that the City is worried about liability issues arising from another organization managing what was an old dump site with leaching problems. At the Sept.10 Council meeting, staff presented a Request for Proposals for a private company or Not-for-Profit to manage the golf course as Council had previously requested. It was defeated. Clearly no group could have fulfilled the stated requirements. Deliberations are still occurring as to how the City can retain responsibility for looking after the environmental issues while managing it effectively. Stay tuned.

Community Strategic Plan Meeting
On January 31, 2013 in Memorial Hall, the mayor invited local citizens to a public meeting to state what Council has achieved over the past two years and to ask citizens what should be Council’s priorities for the King’s Town area. Of particular interest to the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour were topics such as the proposed casino, the proposed development of the North Block, Belle Park, heritage interests, environmental and sustainability issues, housing etc.

North Block Public Meeting
On March 4, 2013, Consultant Planning Partnership presented their proposed concept for the North Block at Memorial Hall. The City has been looking at plans, elements for consideration, heritage building integration and parking issues. www.cityofkingstonca/residents/development/northblock. The suggested design for the block immediately south of the KROCK centre includes two condo buildings, one 8 stories and the other 12 stories with commercial space at ground level, a landscaped walkway and underground parking, preserving the designated heritage buildings on the block. Contact: Lanie Hurdle, lhurdle@cityofkingston.ca.

Public Visioning Workshop for Redevelopment of the Davis Tannery.
On May 9, a visioning workshop took place at Memorial Hall which consisted of a brief history of the Davis Tannery property and a chance for participants to share thoughts on redevelopment of the site. Most groups felt that high rise condos on Rideau St. back from the water with lower rise housing closer to the water made sense along with provision for a multi-use waterfront pathway.
Contact: Carola Bomfim Lima: cbomfinlima@cityofkingston.ca