There was a steady flow of people through the Ojibway Nature Centre on Thursday evening, as interested residents had a chance to take in the open house for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park.
The City of Windsor, in collaboration with Parks Canada and consultant WSP E&I Canada Limited, put on the event to share the latest information on what's happening.
Miriam Padolsky, the Director of Urban Parks and Ecological Corridors for Parks Canada, says they were very excited to see the turnout.
"There's a lot of interest and support and questions about the proposed National Urban Park in Windsor. We think it's going really well and we're interested to hear from people, what are their questions, what's their vision for a National Urban Park in Windsor," she said.
City staff and Parks Canada officials were on hand to answer those questions and share information boards outlining the draft study area of the proposed park.
A number of information boards were set up for interested residents (Photo by AM800's Aaron Mahoney)
Padolsky says the people who came in were engaged.
"Oh we've heard about different lands that should be included in the park or not included in the park and we've heard questions around the entire process. We're still listening and hearing what people have to say, there's a survey that opened to hear from local residents. We've heard a lot of enthusiam but we'll hear more through the survey."
She says the survey officially opened for input on the proposed park on Thursday.
"It's posted on the City of Windsor's website, and it's open until the middle of December," she continued. "So it's a chance for any Windsor residents to sort of share their perspective on the National Urban Park."
Officials are planning on holding more information sessions in the future, with two pop-up sessions scheduled for early December and then a second open house sometime in 2023.
Parks Canada launched a new program in 2021 to create a network of national urban parks across Canada in order to support access to nature in urban centres.