Jessie Maxwell-Smith Park reopens after 2-year city delay

After a two-year delay from the city, Jessie Maxwell-Smith Park reopened on Friday.

The park is named aftera community organizer and teacher in Little Burgundy who died in early 2000.

Dean Smith is her son. Smith said his father is the one who went down to city hall after his mother died to lobby the city to name the park after Maxwell-Smith and they complied.

Its a great honour for the City of Montreal just to put the park in her name," Smith said.

"My mom is probably the only black, (Anglo) Afro-Canadianwith a park in her name in Canada. [...] She deserved it," he continued.

The park is facing the Tyndale St-Georges community centre, a pillar of the Little Burgundy neighbourhood.

• FROM 2012: A renewed park in Little Burgundy

However, when it came time to build the children'spark, the city said the community would have to do it on its own.

So they did.

Smith said nearly 200 volunteers, including members of the Canadian military, came down in 2012 to the park to help with landscaping and building the slides, swings and jungle gym.

But once the city caught wind of their activities, the volunteers were told the park wasn't safe. The city fenced the park in for two years and redid the work of the volunteers.

Resident Wayne Yearwoodhelped build the original park.

"They told us we had to do it, so we did, as best we could," Yearwood said.

And so they were disappointed to see the city shut it down.

However, now that the park is open, members of the Little Burgundy community are putting the experience behind them.

We can laugh at it now because its open," Yearwood said.