Winter activities in the works for popular Centretown Park

By Brett Throop and Kyle Duggan     A Dundonald Park working group is urging people to come out and play in the park during the winter months. The park, a century-old Centretown landmark on Somerset Street at Bay Street, is a hub for community activities in the summer and one of the most trodden parks in the city. But when the mercury plummets, the visitors dwindle, a 2012 report by a Toronto-based urban consulting firm found. The report researched use of the park and how to improve it. Among other things, it found the park sees about six times fewer visitors in winter. “We are really encouraging people to keep using their community park,” said Christina Marchant, director of Community Health Promotion at Centretown Community Health Centre. The centre works closely with the Dundonald Park working group, which is in charge of getting more visitors to the park based on recommendations from the report. The working group is looking at activities such as cross-country ski and show-shoe lessons, Chinese New Year celebrations and a winter carnival. The carnival could include a snowman making competition, roasted-chestnut vendors and a park-lighting celebration. During summer, the park’s calendar is filled with daily tai chi classes, children’s music programs, line and folk dancing and movie nights. But there is only one listing for November and December on the park’s online calendar of events: a free weekly community meal held by Food Not Bombs. “When it gets to be winter we all want to cocoon a bit more and then our physical activity levels can go down,” Marchant said. “That’s not very healthy for us.” Marchant said that social isolation is greater in winter when people spend more time indoors, and that isolation is a year-round issue for many in Centretown who face language and income barriers. “Getting people out into the park in the winter is a way to break some of that isolation, maybe make some friends and basically support people’s mental health,” she said. Since new activities aren’t expected on the calendar this year, Marchant said the focus is currently on getting people to make their own fun. A group of Algonquin College students is working with the health centre to develop posters to encourage people to enjoy classic winter activities like making snowmen and snow angels in the park. “Once you’re moving and running around and having fun, you don’t feel the cold anymore,” said Mary O’Reilly, one of the students who designed the posters. “We don’t get enough sunlight, so having access to sunlight at all is very beneficial for your mood and getting out and being with...