The district of Williamsville, where the Site is situated, has the least park and recreational space in the city, less than half of all but two of the other districts. Selling the Site would set a dangerous precedent for disposing of city parks for financing new projects.
Now, I would like each councillor, apart from Councillor Smith, to consider the largest park in your district. I will just remind you what they are:
| Little Cataraqui Conservation Area | 907 acres | (Countryside) |
| Lemoine’s Point | 337 acres | (Lakeside) |
| Belle Park Fairways | 110 acres | (Cataraqui and Kings Town) |
| Woodbine Park | 54 acres | (Loyalist-Cataraqui) |
| Grass Creek Park | 51 acres | (Pittsburgh) |
| Cataraqui Park | 35 acres | (King Town) |
| Lake Ontario Park | 35 acres | (Portsmouth) |
| Arbour Ridge Park | 25 acres | (Trillium) |
| City Park | 21 acres | (Sydenham) |
| McCullough Park | 13 acres | (Collins-Bayridge) |
| Max Jackson Park | 8 acres | (Kingscourt) |
Now imagine if those parks, the largest parks in your districts, were gone. Imagine the public outcry. Imagine the anger and frustration. Imagine even suggesting it.
Yet, even if all those parks were gone, over 1550 acres, you would still have more park and recreational space per person than Williamsville has now.
In light of this incredible discrepancy, how could you possibly justify selling even one square inch of our park?
How could you justify it
- To the residents of Williamsville and the surrounding areas
- To the tens of thousands of people who use the Site each year
- To the numerous people who have written to the papers in support of keeping the Site and facilities
- To the approximately 4,000 people who have already signed our petition
- To all those who have come out tonight
And ultimately, how could you justify it to the Ontario Municipal Board? Because in order convert the site to another use, an amendment to the Official Plan will have to be made and approved by the OMB, since it will inevitably be appealed. As you know, this is a long and costly process which requires public input - input which is clearly not in favour of selling.
In order to improve community ice facilities, there have been proposals to refurbish or repurpose the Memorial Centre Arena for recreational use and/or build more ice pads on the Site. Voting now to maintain the Site as public community facilities is consistent with all these scenarios.
We are concerned that there may be a proposal to have the motion deferred to another date. Some councillors, even now, may believe that these arguments are not enough and that no decisions should be made regarding the sale of the Site until the financing options are presented for the proposed entertainment centre.
To those councillors, I suggest they consider the following:
Any responsible financing option will not include the sale of the Site. We have been told that shovels will be in the ground in less than 20 months. It could easily take longer than that to get approval from the OMB to sell the Site and a favourable judgment is by no means guaranteed.
If the construction of the centre is contingent on selling the Site, either the process will be significantly delayed; or hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent on the preparatory work at the risk of an unfavourable OMB hearing and the loss of the project.
We ask that you respect all the citizens who have turned out in such numbers, vote on the motion tonight and put an end to this issue which is dividing our city.
The Kingston Community Strategic Plan, adopted by Council October 24th, 2000 and prepared by a committee which included Councillors Foster, Pater and Sutherland, states “we are committed to protecting our heritage and our cultural and natural environments for future generations.” What is the Kingston Community Memorial Health and Recreation Centre but a major element of our agricultural, community and military heritage, a centre for numerous cultural activities which cannot be hosted elsewhere and a significant part of our natural environment?
For Councillor Smith, we ask that you respect the commitment you made at our public meeting to fight to preserve the Memorial Centre Site as much as possible. Now is the time to fulfill your promise. We also ask you to urge your fellow councillors to join you in supporting the motion on this issue.
For all councillors, now is the time to show your leadership and prove that you truly are committed to protecting our heritage and our cultural and natural environments for future generations.
Thank you