Town welcoming volunteers to run John Clarkson Park skating track

December 12, 2019 · 0 Comments

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

The skating track at John Clarkson Park has been ready for quite some time now, but has yet not been opened to the public due to the Town not dedicating any funds for a full-time employee to run and provide maintenance at the site.

10-year-old Sadie Bara from Southfields Village decided to begin her own research.

The Bara family, along with other members of the community have been looking into spreading awareness on the possibility of getting the skating track at John Clarkson Park, located on Dougall Ave, up and going so that families in the Southfields area can enjoy it.

Sadie’s dad, Jay, couldn’t be prouder of his daughter for showing her initiative and reaching out to local newspapers and even the Town for help.

“She emailed Allan Thompson, the Mayor of Caledon and he wrote back to her. He wrote her a nice email back saying that it was opened, and paved by the developer, but the money hasn’t existed to operate it. It’s built and the track’s been built, but there just isn’t the money to operate it, so it’s just kind of sitting there,” remarks Bara.

Town staff informed the Citizen that the Southfields Community Centre in Mayfield West is still undergoing construction and, once complete and with a full-time employee in place, further discussions will be able to take place on a Town-operated outdoor rink.

Mayor Allan Thompson also mentioned to Sadie that he was going to bring it up to council for the budget discussion for 2021.

Conversations arose about its current state and, if members of the community were willing to get together to take it over until the Town can get involved, a community volunteer group would be allowed to operate it as a part of the Town’s Neighbourhood Ice Rink Program.

Under the Town’s Neighbourhood Ice Rink Program, members would receive proper training on how to flood the track, and be providing with instructions on certain criteria on how to maintain it. It requires six members to create a community volunteer group. Members would need to fill out a required application in terms of location, primary contact person, a planned schedule and supervision.

Southfields Village community are looking forward to have an operating skating rink for the community to enjoy during the winter season, and are hopeful that further discussions and plans with take place in the near future.