Stouffville starts construction on $5.5-million skating trail at Memorial Park

Yorkregion.com
April 26, 2022

Ready, set, skate. The heart of Memorial Park is going to look a lot different in short order. The Town of Stouffville has started  construction on the new multi-season skating trail in Memorial Park with a groundbreaking on April 22.

The Memorial Park Skating Trail is going to be located west of the existing Whitchurch-Stouffville Leisure Centre and Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library.

"We are thrilled to receive this generous funding towards the winter skating trail to be constructed in Memorial Park,” Stouffville Mayor Iain Lovatt said. “This new skating trail, which was chosen by the community as the highest priority in the parks expansion, will bring generations together, creating stronger, happier and healthier residents. Thank you to the federal and provincial governments for your support."

In addition to the construction of a new 275-metre refrigerated accessible skating trail, the project will involve construction of accessible washrooms and changerooms and storage for an ice re-surfacer. Construction of the trail will begin this summer.

“I am excited to be a part of the groundbreaking for the new multi-season trail in Whitchurch-Stouffville, which will be used for ice skating and hiking for years to come,” said The Honourable Helena Jaczek, who is the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. “This is a wonderful asset that will be (a) huge benefit for the community.”

“This is an exciting new day for Stouffville as we break ground on this new piece of community infrastructure,” says Paul Calandra, MPP for Markham-Stouffville. “The construction of a new multi-season trail will bring us one step closer towards enjoying a community hub where residents can come together to partake in physical recreation alongside friends and neighbours.”

Calandra said the the investment from the province wouldn’t have been possible under the previous term of council marked by controversy and former Mayor Justin Altmann. “There was a time when I was embarrassed to say that I represented Stouffville,” Calandra said. “You have to go into a big government bureaucracy and fight on behalf of a community and when you are best known for pictures on a bathroom wall you aren’t getting anything.” Calandra added that the current mayor and council have turned things around.

The new skating trail has been made possible through grants from The Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), a federal infrastructure program designed to create long-term economic growth, build inclusive, sustainable and resilient communities and support a low-carbon economy. The total eligible expenditures of the project are $5,577,000.

The trail aims to give the community improved access to cultural, recreational and community infrastructure by constructing a new skating trail that will be open to the community for all ages and abilities at no cost while also encouraging family and multi-generational uses.

Pickleball and tennis ball courts are also being constructed in an area near the future location of the skating trial. In 2018, the town approved an updated leisure and community services master plan. The master plan included a newly proposed concept plan for Memorial Park.