A double-lane batting cage for baseball and cricket is now open for use at Wilson Park near the Adie Knox Herman Recreation Complex in Windsor.
The addition of the cage, a first for a city property, marks the end of $1.4 million worth of improvements to the park, with a new large accessible playground and splash pad added in 2022 and the addition of new sports courts, including one basketball court, one tennis court, and four pickleball courts, in 2023.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says this is an important milestone..
"They are great new amenities on the west side of the city and the first step of many to come because the Reimagined Adie Knox project is just getting started," he says.
"The public asked for these investments, we responded, council responded, supported these investments, and now you see them together. You see kids enjoying all of the investments that we're making here today," he says. "So it's for the entire community. It certainly hits a variety of touch points and different activities, which is really important, and it's the first step to come in the reimagining of Adie Knox."
Dilkens says the batting cage is the only one in a city park.
"So you don't see this anywhere else. Perhaps in other communities, they may have one or two. Again, this came from a public consultation where people were saying, 'here's what we'd like to see.' We said okay; we don't have it. Let's do an inventory of what we have and how we can hit the mark, and make sure we're putting some of these resources throughout the city," he says.
Over $23 million has been committed to the project, which is currently in the design phase, with construction scheduled to commence in late 2024.
Adie Knox Arena and Wilson Park are located at 700 McEwan Ave. near Wyandotte Street West and Campbell Avenue.
