Last month, a new playground structure was installed in the Stewart Street Park in downtown Peterborough. From blocks away, anyone walking in the area could immediately hear the sound of children laughing and screaming gleefully.
Back in 2012, the Stewart Street Park was not much more than a poorly maintained basketball court, with three swings that sat virtually unused. A well-worn path led straight through the park indicating that, while many people cut through, very few stayed or used the space. In fact, many of the residents identified the park as somewhere they wouldn’t want to go, or didn’t feel safe using.
Today, the park is an entirely different space. Thanks to an amazing group of community members and support from local organizations such as GreenUP, the Peterborough Community Garden Network (PCGN), and Nourish, residents have been able to reclaim the park, shape its use, and transform the space into a point of pride.
This story is about much more than a park; it’s about community and a group of residents coming together to make their neighbourhood a better place. This story will hopefully inspire other neighbourhoods to do the same.
In 2012, local resident Liz Hitchins approached the PCGN for support to start a community garden in the Stewart Street Park.
Her vision was simple: Liz wanted neighbours to talk to each other more. In 2013, the garden was planted with support from the PCGN, the City of Peterborough, and through lots of community outreach and partnership building. After its initial success, participation in the garden increased.
Over time, it has grown to include 16 allotment plots where individuals and families learn from one another and grow their own food, eight communal raised beds that offer fresh produce for the picking by any park visitor, and a diversity of fruit trees and bushes have been planted throughout the park.
In just a few short years, community members are not only talking to each other more, but have also identified results that far exceed their initial expectations: reduced crime rates; enhanced positive use of the park; greater access to freshly picked, delicious, and healthy produce; increased knowledge needed to grow food; and — perhaps most importantly — a strengthened sense of pride in the community.
One of the first projects deemed as a priority by the SSAACA was raising money for a new playground. In a remarkably short period of time, the association raised over $5,000. To the delight of the neighbourhood, the City of Peterborough supplied additional funds and the playground was installed this fall.
The SSAACA is currently working on securing funds for installing a picnic shelter and its members can be found spurring active change through a number of projects in the area, including the Active Neighbourhoods Canada (ANC) Peterborough project.
The ANC project is a national participatory planning project that seeks to increase resident access, input, and engagement in formal city planning and place-making activities. The goal of the Peterborough project is to support residents as they develop the tools, resources, and language required to reimagine and advocate for changes to their built environment.
Projects like ANC are important in neighbourhoods like Stewart Street, because residents of the Stewart Street area walk, bike, and ride transit with greater frequency than residents in other Peterborough neighbourhoods. Transportation equity — specifically, ensuring access to healthy and affordable modes of transportation — is a priority, and SSAACA’s involvement in the ANC project provides an avenue for the community to explore how new infrastructure can continue to expand on the positive impact of community life and bring more eyes and feet on the street.
These projects provide a snapshot of the ways in which residents of the Stewart Street Area have been empowered by their success and have become ambassadors for community-building at a local, provincial, and even a national scale.
The sound of children emanating from the park is more than just laughter and glee — it is the sound of community-driven change, and its echo is reverberating throughout Peterborough and beyond.
For more information about the Active Neighbourhoods Canada partnership project with GreenUP, please email Brianna Salmon, Manager of Transportation and Urban Design Programs at GreenUP, at brianna.salmon@greenup.on.ca.
For more about starting or getting involved with local community gardens, please contact Jillian Bishop, Community Food Cultivator at Nourish at growing@nourishproject.ca or check out www.nourishproject.ca.
