Greater Sudbury considers closing 10 playgrounds and selling land

The City of Greater Sudbury is considering closing and selling 10 playgrounds with the aim of saving money to fix up the dozens of other parks it runs.

A staff report to be debated at the April 12 Finance and Administration Committee meeting says that 58 of the 189 playgrounds in the city are deemed to be in poor condition.

Staff suggest closing and selling 10 of them in an effort to raise some of the $1.9 million needed to repair the remaining 48.

The playgrounds on the chopping block include:

• ParticipactionTot Lot in the West End
• Queen's Athletic Field playground in the West End
• Pine and Fir Tot Lot orthe Gil Loop Top Lot in Onaping
• Shawn Tot Lot in Azilda
• MacMillanTot Lot in Val Caron
• PinecrestTot Lot in Val Caron
• Ravine Park orLions Park in Garson
• TrilliumParkin New Sudbury
• Rose Marie Playground orPlace Hurtubise Playground in New Sudbury
• Summerhill Park in New Sudbury

'What's going to be theirs if you take it away from them?'

Tom Gunn, whohas tended to the skating rink at Rose Marie for 37 years, was surprised to see his playground on the list.

He says it's importance to the neighbourhood and the kids who grow up there is worth much more than however many taxdollars might be saved.

"They know their playground. They know everybody at their playground, because it's their playground. What's going to be theirs if you take it away from them? It's my mall?" asks Gunn.

Yves Charette was also surprised to hear that the MacMillanpark in Val Caron where he goes almost every day with his dog and two sons could close.

"I don't see where there would be a need for a whole lot of maintenance outside of mowing the lawn and picking up the garbage that's left in the trash can," says Charette, who also doesn't believe the landlocked property will be sought after by developers.

Former city councillor still opposes new parks

During his eight years as city councillor for Lively and Copper Cliff, Jacques Barbeau frequently pushed for the sale of underused parks and fought against the creation of new playgrounds.

He says it was a very unpopular opinion with some citizens and likely lead to his defeat in the 2014 election, but he continues to believe that selling excess parkland and improving the remaining playgrounds is the way to go.

"At the end of the day, we have to make tough decisions. And trying to be everything to everybody is not responsible government," says Barbeau.