Roger Street Park

The City of Waterloo, GSP Group and Novus Contracting are working together to build a new neighbourhood park on Roger Street in Waterloo. The park will be located next to the Spur Line Common development and Mount Hope Cemetery. The park will include a trail that connects Roger Street to Mount Hope Cemetery and beyond. It will include a playground for children and plenty of greenery and seating.

Location of Roger Street Park.

Roger Street Park design

This design features a traditional structure, a kinetic climber, and ground level play elements for users of all ages.

Playground features:

Traditional climbing structures: accessible transfer station, ground level auto steering wheel, two roofs with gear ornaments, 4-foot double wave slide, 4-foot ladder climber, gear manipulation play panel, store counter, control play panel, upper level auto steering wheel, telescope play panel, 6-foot climbing wall, 6-foot slide, sway hammock.

Kinetic climbers: Pod, cable , balance, ladder, panel and leaf climbers.

Ground level play elements: Seated spinner and spring toy.

Play panels: 3 in-a-row, anthill and rainstick games.

A play structure with two slides, and other play features.

Location of Roger Street Park.

Roger Street Park design

This design features a traditional structure, a kinetic climber, and ground level play elements for users of all ages.

Playground features:

Kinetic climbers: Pod, cable , balance, ladder, panel and leaf climbers.

Ground level play elements: Seated spinner and spring toy.

Play panels: 3 in-a-row, anthill and rainstick games.

A play structure with two slides, and other play features.

Questions

If you have a question about this project, please post it here and a member of our project team will respond.

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In the concept images there is a large amount of flat yard space pictured. Is this representative of the park to be, and if so, are there plans for the short term future (2-5 years) to make use of this space to serve the community? (Picnic area, sport/recreation, public art, community garden etc). I don't think a lawn is the best land use to serve the community.

Andrew Jacob Rinehart asked about 2 years ago

Hello Andrew Jacob Rinehart,
Thank you for your question about the Roger Street Park Design. The flat yard space in the park has been included as un-programmed area in the park. This will allow the area to be adapted to the needs of the user, whether that be to have a picnic, toss a ball, exercise, or stretch in the park.
We hope you enjoy this new space.
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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There are on-going issues between dog owners and the municipality about dogs being off-leash in Mt Hope Cemetery. When I was in New Zealand last year I was impressed by the system they had there: all but a few pubic parks were designated as off-leash in (if I recall correctly) between 6-9am daily. Owners remained responsible for keeping their animals under control, and scooping. There are a lot of dogs in this neighbourhood and, given the scale of current and future development, I expect we'll be adding a few thousand more to the dog population in the next decade. Existing park space is inadequate now so I imagine current tensions will increase. Might the municipality consider making this parkette officially off-leash during early morning hours? Could we run a pilot program from this parkette to see if something like that is feasible here?

ALarsen asked almost 3 years ago

Hello ALarsen,
Thank you for reaching out with regard to dogs and parks. We appreciate hearing about your ideas and experiences for dog park facilities in the City of Waterloo. At this time the City will not be considering off-leash hours for this park given it’s scale, and current position of keeping dogs on-leash in park spaces. Please keep your eye out for future news regarding the development of off-leash facilities to be provided in the west side of the City, and future engagement projects regarding dogs. You may also be interested in the past public engagement conducted regarding dogs in parks, found here.
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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With the pandemic showing how valuable urban green space is, shouldn't we have a shift in our public park design? Make it multigenerational instead of targeting children only?

Audi asked almost 3 years ago

Hello Audi,
Thank you for your question. This park is of small scale, and a playground has been prioritized for the space given current provisional levels and spatial limitations. The city continues to provide spaces guided catering to multi-generational user groups including trail development, action sports facilities, and urban park projects. Please keep your eye out for other projects including the RIM Park Pump Track Cycling facilities currently under construction, Action Sport Facilities (Y-Library, Albert McCormick Recreation Centre, RIM Park), the Waterloo Park Circuit, Northdale Parkettes, and Laurel Greenway Improvements.
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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A playground is not complete without a swing set. I know there's limited space but a swing set would complete the set. I would also like a lot of trees because playgrounds are often much too sunny for kids to play on. Working with nature is the way of the future.

chilly asked over 2 years ago

Hello Chilly,
Thank you for your comments.
The playground footprint at the site is constrained by grading and is not large enough to contain a high play value play structure and a swing set. The resulting designs will both provide good play value with a variety of amenities for users to engage with. Each design provides a compromising swing/sway type feature such as the sway hammock in option 1, or the rocking nest in design option 2.
The site design has been completed with trees in mind with a variety of trees around the site to provide shade as they mature.
We look forward to seeing this park implemented and hope that you enjoy the project outcome.
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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These two questions seem like a missed opportunity for more deeply useful community input. I'm sure this process matters a lot to the designers and I wonder if open ended questions like... What play experiences do you see as missing or in short supply in our community? ... What age range do you see as underserved in our play spaces? ... How much should material choices and sustainability be given consideration in this design? ... Or perhaps show a sampling from several company's work and focusing in on different details & features to gather useable ratings? Have you considered asking a few demographic questions on the survey (primary language, age, family of ___, how many days a week do you visit a waterloo park, etc) so that you can get a sense of who will be using the space? Also have you considered how this survey could be designed for children to engage with... include lots of images, touch screen size buttons, images with questions like "what is exciting about this feature, or touch the feature you would play on first!". I'd also be curious if the playground is made in Canada. I know that Waterloo area has a playground manufacturer, Earthscape Play, which has been winning lots of awards. Have you thought about approaching a designer from their team to be involved with the next round of community engagement?

WaterlooDad asked almost 3 years ago

Hi WaterlooDad,
Thank you for reaching out with regards to Roger Street Park.
We appreciate your enthusiasm for a very thorough engagement process! This survey was designed with knowledge that it would be distributed to more than 550 households. A more open ended survey would be difficult to interpret with this many people in mind. Instead, the survey questions that have been asked are meant to help designers answer the difficult question, how would the community like us to use this small playground area. It also will help identify if there are any special considerations that need to be made for users with enhanced needs.
With regard to demographics, the final playground design will be completed with all children (ages 18 months to 12 years) in mind. We anticipate the playground user demographics to shift over time so that the youngest users right now will have a place to play as they grow. We also anticipate families with multiple children of different ages to use the space.
We look forward to the next round of engagement that will allow users to select a preferred playground from two different design options completed by one manufacturer. This is meant to be something parents, children, and families can discuss together.
We will select the playground manufacturer following the first engagement using a competitive bidding process. This will ensure the playground is well designed with high play value equipment.
We look forward to the seeing this design develop, and the second engagement phase for this park.
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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We are moving into this new development and would prefer a small tennis court and bike racks. There will be more couples and retirees living here than families. The survey only includes a playground not other options. Could even have a nice seating or picnic area. Please reconsider the playground as it doesn’t really fit with the development

Waterlooette asked almost 3 years ago

Hi Waterlooette,
Thank you for reaching out with regards to this project.
Unfortunately, this park is too small to include a tennis court type feature. Due to the park’s scale and grading, a smaller feature was required for the site. This park was designed to serve the whole neighbourhood including the new development. A playground was selected for the area to ensure a play space is located within 800m of all dwellings in the neighbourhood without crossing a major street. The site design also includes 3 bicycle racks with parking capacity of up to 6 bicycles.
You will be happy to note that this is not the only park space, and that a more adult focused privately-owned public space will be included in phase two of the development. The phase two park will include a pergola structure, seating area, and plantings. Additionally, court features may be found nearby at Mary Allen Park, (paved basketball court, and table tennis), or George Lippert Park in Kitchener (tennis).
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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I noticed all 3 playground options in the survey include purchasing all metal/plastic play equipment. Is there opportunity for wood to be added instead? I am thinking of Mary Allen Park, which incorporates wooden structures for play as well as the playground. I know space is limited, however, you have armour stone seating as well as benches. Many parents watch, many also engage with their children. Placing various sized logs in place of one of the stone seating areas, could promote natural exploration and be something people of all ages can engage with together. (Again, referencing the Mary Allen Park’s amazing wooden play opportunities). Sincerely, an Early Childhood Forest School Educator

Emily Robertson asked almost 3 years ago

Hi Emily,
Thank you for reaching out with regards to Roger Street Park.
At this time there is no set design or material pallet for the Roger Street Park playground. Currently, play equipment descriptions focus on function instead of material. There may be opportunity to incorporate some natural elements, though this will depend on the manufacturer selected to design the playground amongst other factors. It should also be noted that natural play amenities come at a premium cost, and may provide less play value for the park than more traditional features. As a result, they may not appear in the final design.
With regards to site design, stone seating has been selected as a natural material that will be easily maintained and have a long lifespan. The stone seating will be a great place for kids to engage in creative and imaginative play, as well to walk and balance on.
We look forward to sharing the playground designs with the community.
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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With the recent development of the Mary Allen Park, the changes underway to the park on Roger at the Spur Line trail, and Guelph St Park also close by, all geared to the under 12 bracket of the population and given the space constraints for a larger play structure - can consideration be made for the space to target a more mature age group, ages 13+? This teen age bracket is often not welcomed in park spaces with smaller children, with the proximity to KCI and public transit can the city consider a park space geared towards a demographic that needs outdoor socialization space?

Terra asked almost 3 years ago

Hi Terra,
Thank you for reaching out with regards to Roger Street Park.
As the survey and plans indicates, this park site is quite small. We have chosen to include a playground in the park to meet provisional standards and do not have the space for additional features. It should be noted that the playground area at Roger Street Park and Mary Allen Park is designed with children ages 2-5 and 7-12 in mind to follow CSA playground design regulations. This age range is not meant to exclude any age groups from using the play equipment should they like to use the playground.
Additionally, I am happy to inform you that a number of features exist in the uptown area for user ages 13+. These include a basketball court, ping pong table, and games tables at Mary Allen Park nearby. Additionally, the city is working to develop more action sports facilities with older kids in mind, such as the Albert McCormick Skate Park (opening July 16), the Skate Park at Waterloo Park, The engagement page for the Action Sports Parks may be found here: https://www.engagewr.ca/albert-mccormick-central-plaza-and-more-action-sport-parks.
We hope you are able to enjoy the future park, and the parks around the city.
Regards,
Daniel Waters
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I just wanted to say THANK YOU, for including a park area in this community. It is very much appreciated.

Steve Sugrim asked almost 3 years ago

Thank you so much for your kind words! We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
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There are ongoing issues between dog owners and the municipality about dogs being off-leash in Mt Hope Cemetery. When I was in New Zealand last year, I was impressed by their system: all but a few pubic parks were designated as off-leash (if I recall correctly) 6-9am daily. Owners remain responsible for keeping their animals under control and scooping. There are many dogs in this neighborhood, and given the scale of current and future development, I expect we'll be adding a few thousand more dogs to that population in the next decade. Existing park space is inadequate now so I imagine current tensions will increase. Might the municipality consider making this parkette officially off-leash during early morning hours? Or might a pilot program be run from this parkette to see if daily off-leash hours are feasible in this municipality?

ALarsen asked almost 3 years ago

Hello ALarsen,
This parkette will be too small to accommodate off-leash facilities. Should you be interested in learning more about current off-leash strategies, I invite you to review outcomes of the dog poop and leashes public engagement run earlier this year. This engagement topic is closed, though I will bring forward your dog park ideas to the appropriate people internally (off-leash hours at parks,etc.).
Please keep your eye out for future dog park related public engagements.
Regards,
Daniel Waters