Members of the Railway City Rotary Club were on hand June 29 to officially unveil the musical instruments they commissioned. The installation was designed and fabricated by metal artist Scott McKay. Rotary treasurer Helen Campbell presented our Matt Janes with the final installment of the $20,000 donation that made it possible to start this project. There will soon be a third sound installation added along with a balance beam and painted sidewalk games. In all, it's a great, colourful play zone for kids and the young at heart. Thank you Railway City Rotary.
The Elevated Park gets musical
Coming Soon!
We announced the Rotary Music Garden last year, but fabrication is well under way so here are the renderings of the latest improvements to the Elevated Park made possible by Railway City Rotary Club. Their generous investment has made it possible to design, build and install three musical sculptures..
The artist and fabricator is Scott McKay, who is also responsible for so many other great attractions at the Elevated Park. With any luck, construction and relaxed Covid-19 restrictions will make it possible to have these in place by early July.
Thanks to A+LiNK Architects for the great renderings.
The exciting Art, Trees & Trails project
We are pleased to announce our participation in “Art, Trees & Trails” project, a community-wide collaboration with partners including the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, Catfish Creek Conservation Authority and the St. Thomas Elevated Park.
This project will bring historic and contemporary artwork from the St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre permanent collection to the Elevated Park through the installation of attractive signs that feature high quality reproductions of many of our landmark paintings.
The “Art, Trees & Trails” project has been generously funded with $115,000 by the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell.
protecting our project for the future
So many in our community are donating time and money to create Canada's first elevated park. How will we protect it for the future?
Starting this year, we will set aside 25% of every donation dollar into a special endowment fund at the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation. This special fund will ensure that money is always available in future for maintenance and repairs.
Remember, this unique park was created by community effort. No tax dollars have ever been received. You can donate now, by credit card, knowing that your investment will help build the park today and keep it beautiful and safe well into the future. Use this link for your donation. You will receive an automatic tax receipt.
A Major Bequest
At a special on site briefing June 10, local media reps heard the details of a new $100,000 bequest from the estate of Donna Vera Bushell this morning. The gift will make it possible for us to undertake a wide range of updates to the elevated park and associated trails, all now part of the Trans Canada Trail. These include:
BIGGER: the planting of mature trees along the western trail, now to be known as The Arboretum Line. The linear park will feature hundreds of native trees and shrubs along a 3.5km route.
BRIGHTER: will allow for the full electrification of the park and the eastern approach, including pathway lighting for safety. The addition of electricity will allow us to install a planned state of the art video surveillance system.
GREENER: The donation also enables the installation of grass on the bridge structure. Sort of a "living roof" floating 100 feet over Kettle Creek valley.
An additional bequest was made to the St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre to install reproductions of art from its permanent collection at the Elevated Park and on trails at both Dalewood and Springwater conservation areas. This is a great community-boosting donation. Our thanks to the estate executors as well as to the Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation and to Andrew Gunn as consultant to the estate.
The Arboretum Line
The Arboretum Line, a 3.5km linear park starting at the western end of the bridge all the way to Lyle Road. It will not only be a great walking and cycling trail, part of the Trans Canada Trail, but it will be a living museum for all the trees native to southwestern Ontario. Every tree and bush will be inventoried, mapped, labeled and be part of a walking tour app. The new entrance at Lyle Road will include parking, signage and benches. This project is made possible by the bequest from the Donna Vera Bushell estate, announced June 10. This is just one of the exciting upgrades we have planned for 2020-2021.
