- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

Victoria Park is among my favourite green and people-watching spaces close to home.

On a recent beautiful Sunday afternoon there were people playing lacrosse on the infield and over in the skate park they were scootering, boarding and biking.

Red-cheeked teenagers were lugging equipment bags out of the Rec Centre, folks were walking their dogs and guys were sitting in camp chairs visiting with friends at the tailgate of a pick-up.

A perfect picture of Owen Sound residents at play.

The close-up is not quite so pretty.

The grandstand and barn at Victoria Park are owned by the Owen Sound Agricultural Society, and sit on land leased from the City.

The most recent lease – for 10 years – was approved by council in May 2020. In 2022, the back roof that once protected animals in their stalls from the sun and rain, was removed for safety, as shown in this 2022 photo.

The area had been used by partiers and those sleeping rough for bonfires. The city keeps it mowed and picks up garbage, but it is still well visited, and blankets and sleeping bags are still hung on the fence.

The barn has been a canvas for graffiti for years – some innocuous, some less so.

It looks like the north end may need another coat of paint before visitors arrive for the annual Fall Fair in early September.

This is the mildest comment on that wall, and it includes some named targets.

The dirt track in front of the grandstand bears the deep ruts of annual tractor pulls in the mud, and bits of plastic and metal from years of demilition derby (back again this September).

Following up on an Unsafe Order posted in June of 2022, the most damaged parts of the bleachers were removed earlier this year.

Since then it has been surrounded by yellow construction fence with Keep Out signs, but for weeks there has been an opening in the fence.

Cars and mattresses and some of the planks have been removed by the owners, but there is evidence that other people have been in and out of the space under and on the bleachers.

The fencing at the Kiwanis skateboard and bike park has been wide open for weeks now, and today is lying on the surface.

The park is scheduled for some much needed repair starting next month. 

One social media commenter said  "We used to bring our summer campers there last year but we stopped due to the safety of the equipment and the offensive graffiti everywhere."

These spaces are all patrolled by Owen Sound Police as well as Fairmount Security.

The playing field is a source of revenue to the city, rented out to sports teams, camps, and St. Mary's High School, at least until the new school is built on some yet-to-be-determined site in the City.

During the school year, students walk back and forth from the school for phys ed and extra-curriculars, and sometimes hang around the park, occasionally leaving evidence of their stay. 

So do the spectators, teams and tailgaters. 

One social media commenter suggested that security cameras at the skateboard park would deter "riff raff". I'm not sure of whom they were speaking, since the people I meet there are sweeping the surface and enjoying the park as it was intended. 

If she means those who are leaving cans and garbage around, and if cameras were actually a deterent, I would not have been able to take these pictures. 

This can and recycling bin were moved to the east edge of the playing field from the skateboard park early in the summer.

They were fairly full went I went by that Sunday afternoon, and overflowing with plastic water bottles, liquor bottles and empty beer cans by the early evening when the lacrosse players, spectators and tailgaters had gone.

And it was still like this when the seven-year-olds were at soccer camp the next day.

The teams, clubs, camps, fair goers, students, spectators, dog walkers, skateboarders, unhoused and ramblers are all part of our community.

It appears to me that not one of those groups can point at another as the "riff raff" responsible for the condition of our park. 

Yes, there are Slurpie cups and the occasional vape pod.

And there are tire tracks on the grass, dog poop bags tossed aside, cigarette butts and coffee cups in the parking lot, Cliff bar wrappers and plastic water bottles mowed into pieces on the field. There are Twisted Tea cans – and some craft beer brands. 

And there is household garbage that definitely arrived in a late model vehicle.

What will NOT make things better in Victoria Park?

Doing nothing.

Or complaining on Facebook about "the city", or "those people" or council members,  or "kids these days".

What CAN make a difference?

• Contact the City through the Report a Concern link when you see something that, well, concerns you.
  You can now add a photo.
  
  

• Contact your elected representatives.
  They set policy, approve many contracts, and make spending decisions.
  Make a delegation or ask a question at Public Question period at a council meeting.
  
  

• Read the current Victoria Park Master Plan from 2011 and be prepared to participate in the public engagement around the next one, scheduled for 2024.
  
  

• Offer to help the Owen Sound Agricultural Society with painting or funding.
  
  

• Get yourself a grabber – (I recommend this one, but I have no investment in Canadian Tire) – and help get litter and recycling where it belongs.
  
  

I'm grateful to the Ag Society, the Y, the Kiwanis Club and the City for a park we can all enjoy, but this is our park – yours and mine. 

It is going to take all of us to make it – and keep it – a safe, clean, useful, welcoming community space for all our neighbours and their families.