Sarah Ane, Associate Director Recreation & Culture, Town of Lincoln
Madison Dalley, Landscape Architectural Designer & Lead, Rotary Park Project
President Brenda introduced Sarah and Madison.
Rotary Park’s development on the 3.66 acre parcel of parkland adjacent to the Fleming Memorial Arena (Fleming Centre) in Beamsville has been a multi-phased project. The park began with the Phase I skatepark and pump track which was completed in the Fall of 2020. Phase II broke ground in the Spring of 2021 and was completed in the Fall of 2021. In partnership with the Fleming Foundation and Ontariogreen, the remainder of the Val Fleming Butterfly Garden will be planted in the Spring of 2022. An official grand opening and community event will be held in the park on Saturday, June 4, 2022, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Lincoln. In addition to Lincoln Town Council’s commitment to building Rotary Park, funds were also received from the public and private sector, and community members, who will be formally recognized at the grand opening.
Rotary Park is the first parkland development project to break ground since Town of Lincoln Council approved the Town’s first comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan (PRCMP) in 2019. It is the Town’s second destination park and offers a variety of active and passive park elements including:
- Action sports amenities; concrete skatepark and asphalt pump track. It is notable that Rotary Park's pump track is unique in Niagara Region.
- Accessible play area with junior and senior play equipment, fitness equipment, rubber surfacing, seating, and a large shade structure with table seating, lighting, power and water hook up
- Walking loop and trails, with lighting along main trails, seating, garbage/recycling receptacles, bike racks, entrance planting and park signs
- Irrigated open lawn area with an adjacent shade structure with seating, lighting, and convenience power
- Butterfly garden with a pergola, seating, trails, native pollinator plantings, and informational signage. The remainder of the butterfly garden will be planted this spring
- Outdoor learning area with a shade structure and open space
- Parking lot with lighting and a bioswale buffer
- Drop-off & pick-up lay-by parking
- Traffic calming and safety measures - crosswalk from the park to the Fleming Centre, speed humps along the driveway to the Fleming Centre.
The total cost of the park is $3.7 million of which $750,000 has been raised through contributions from external funders including Rotary Club of Lincoln, Fleming Foundation & federal/provincial government funding programs. The naming of Rotary Park was approved by Town Council in Summer 2019.
Sarah and Madison explained that Rotary Park is there for all ages and abilities. Once the park is fully functional later this spring, they shared some of the programming that will be there for all as well - Morning Walks; Adult Fitness; Music; Movie Nights; Butterfly Garden Presentations +++ Information on these programs is available on the Town of Lincoln website - www.lincoln.ca