Shape your park network: Kinzie Oaten and Idlewood

Kinzie Park Opening!

We are happy to announce that final inspections have been completed at Kinzie Park. The park is opening on Friday, July 5 for the public to enjoy at its new location at 50 Thaler Avenue. The new park amenities include climber-focused play equipment, armourstone and bench seating, new tree plantings and an accessible pathway that will also eventually connect to the new adjacent school property.

Idlewood Park Update

Now that Kinzie and Oaten Parks are open to the public, our contractor is scheduled to begin work on Idlewood Park improvements by mid-July. Access to the woodlot trail and baseball diamond will remain open during construction. However, improvements to the entry gate at Woodland Cemetery will be inaccessible until improvements are complete.

Oaten Park

Some damage has been reported to city staff in the newly constructed playground and park area of Oaten. We are hoping the neighborhood and City staff will be able to work together to build in some educational opportunities and stewardship so the neighborhood can continue to enjoy their new park amenities.

Oaten Park

We are pleased to announced that Oaten Park is officially open to the public! The contractor just has to install the benches and make some minor repairs.

On Neighbours Day (June 15), the Neighbourhood Development Office partnered with the Centerville Chicopee Community Garden group. Together, they helped coordinate the beginning of a brand new community garden. Volunteers are now helping to finish the installation. They look forward to sharing this space with the neighbourhood.

Kinzie Park

The park is very close to opening. There are some final inspections to be done for the playground and an operations review to complete. Benches are also going to be installed in this park. We are working behind the scenes to re-open the park as soon as possible.

Idlewood Park

Construction on Idlewood Park is scheduled to begin later in July. We will share more updates and details soon.

The playground at 300 Kinzie Avenue is being moved to make way for a new school site. The City of Kitchener and the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) made a land-swap agreement to enable this change.

The new Kinzie Park location will be at 50 Thaler Avenue, on the other side of the existing green space. Beginning in the spring of 2024, you can expect to see our contractor on-site. They will be working on park improvements and a new playground installation.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our project manager, Karen Leasa, at karen.leasa@kitchener.ca or 519-741-2345 (TTY: 1-266-969-9994).

Construction at Oaten Park continues to progress well over the last few weeks. The water line connection for the community garden was installed. The fencing and gate, along with the water meter and tap, are scheduled to be installed before the end of the year.

Concrete work around the playground and bench pads was also completed. We are now eagerly awaiting the first delivery of playground equipment.

We expect that the first course of asphalt trails will be installed this fall. We also expect the remaining finishing course to be completed early in the spring along with the:

• basketball net
• additional playground elements
• tree planting
• final sod and seeding of the turf

We look forward to working with our contractor to finish this construction work as quickly as possible so that we can officially turn over the new park space to the community next spring!

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our Project Manager - Karen Leasa, Landscape Architect: karen.leasa@kitchener.ca

The construction contract for all three parks within the ward 2 park network (Idlewood, Kinzie, and Oaten Parks) has been awarded to Moser Landscape Group Inc. They are scheduled to mobilize on-site at Oaten Park on Monday, September 11, 2023.

Construction for Kinzie and Idlewood Park improvements are scheduled to commence in the spring of 2024. Thank you for your patience while we work to bring you these improvements.

Please Note: Construction fencing will be erected at both frontages of Oaten Park along Rutherford Dr. and Guerin Ave. If you use the park as a school route or for pedestrian access, you will need to find an alternate route during construction this fall.

We will continue to use this Engage project page and news feed to keep you informed throughout construction. To receive email updates about this project, please go to the ‘Stay Informed’ section of this page and use the ‘Subscribe’ button.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our Project Manager - Karen Leasa, Landscape Architect: karen.leasa@kitchener.ca

We are currently working with our consultant to finalize tender documents that will be posted this spring to a pre-qualified list of contractors. Following the award of this contract, we anticipate construction to begin in early summer of 2023 and end by late summer 2024.

To ensure access to green space throughout this process, we will work closely with the successful contractor to phase construction activities, so that not all three parks are under construction at the same time.

We will continue to use the project page and the project newsletter to keep you informed throughout construction. To receive email updates about this project, please go to the Stay Informed section of this page and use the ‘Subscribe’ button.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Karen Leasa, landscape architect, at 519-741-2200 x4176 or karen.leasa@kitchener.ca.

We have just posted a short 6-minute video about the new design for the Kinzie, Oaten, Idlewood park network. Take a look.

Contents of this video:

0:00 - Introduction

0:56 - Project timeline to date

1:27 - Phase 2 engagement feedback

2:08 - Project timeline next steps

2:46 - Park network approach

3:10 - Common improvements in all parks

3:34 - Kinzie Park refined concept

4:15 - Oaten Park refined concept

5:05 - Idlewood Park refined concept

5:50 - Project Timeline refresher

6:05 - Engage Kitchener website

Earlier this year we asked for your feedback through online surveys and in-person engagement. The first phase of our engagement was focused on how you wanted to feel in these spaces. Later on, in phase two, we looked at what specific amenities were important to you and how you wanted to use these park spaces.

View the final park designs and a summary of what we heard

Based on your feedback, we have worked with our consultant to produce three final designs for the Idlewood, Oaten, and Kinzie park network. What we would like to understand now is whether these final designs resonate with you as a park user and local resident. We will then take the next steps towards construction.

Answer the survey

To receive email updates about this project, please go to the Stay Informed section of this page and use the ‘Subscribe’ button.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our open house on December 13, 2022. For those who couldn't attend, the final park designs and the open house presentation boards are below.

We heard from 545 people overall:

• 279 respondents completed the “What Would You Like To See” and “Tell us what’s important to you” online surveys
• 145 residents attended park pop-up events and provided feedback on the conceptual park designs
• 121 youth ages 11-19 responded to the conceptual designs provided during the Centreville Chicopee after-school program

Here are some of the types of comments you shared with us:

• “More basketball”
• “More play equipment”
• “Walking path for the elderly”
• “Wood chip instead of the sand”
• “Want bigger play space”
• “Garbage cans increased and a doggie disposal bin at the doggie area.”
• “Natural, unique play equipment that invokes child imagination”
• “Seating area, new play equipment”
• “Pathways, tons of trees, sand, equipment, and an area for dogs is great.”

Overall, here were the most requested amenities in your parks:

• Idlewood Park: Off-leash dog park, play structures, and seating
• Kinzie Park: Seating, climbing elements, and shade
• Oaten Park: Basketball, play structures, and community garden

Idlewood Park final design

Kinzie Park final design

Oaten Park final design

Engagement Summary

Most Requested Amenities in Your Parks

Timeline (as of Dec. 13, 2022)

Staff have been working alongside our consultant to analyze all of the feedback we've heard from the last round of engagement. This included multiple pop-up engagements in the park spaces, as well as resident engagement at the Centreville Chicopee Community Centre, and a second Engage online survey.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all those that took the time to respond to the surveys (a total of 283 responses) and engage with our team over the past year. This data has helped guide us in the development of the final concepts for each of the three neighbourhood park spaces.

We would now like to share these final concepts with the community and provide residents the opportunity for feedback via. this last round of engagement.
We will be posting the final concepts online for comment but have also scheduled an in-person Open House so you may view the designs and have an open dialogue:

What: Open House - Ward 2 Parks Network (Kinzie, Oaten, Idlewood Parks)
Panels will be displayed and staff / consultant will be available to engage with during this time. No formal presentation.
When: December 13, 2022; 3:00pm - 7:00pm
Where: Centreville Chicopee Community Centre (141 Morgan Ave, Kitchener)

Hope to see you there!