Neighbours worry they will lose a favourite tobogganing hill if the City of Waterloo goes through with its plan to add dozens of trees to Sandowne Park. “A couple of weeks ago, I saw a sign posted at the entrance to the park and then saw some markings on one of the main hills,” said Alicia DeVries, who has lived in the area for the last decade. She immediately reached out to the city about the placement of the trees. The markings were moved, but only to a different part of the same hill. “On any given day in the winter we can see, at peak times, up to 50 people on the hill,” said DeVries. “The street is lined with cars; people are walking over. It is so busy, you’re waiting at the top to go down.” The $3.8 million project would see 10,000 trees planted across the city by 2027. “Sandowne is just one of the communities where they are going in,” explained Derek Brick, Waterloo’s manager of forestry, horticulture and cemetery services. “We have about 80 sites across the city where trees are planted.” The initial idea was to add 40 trees to the park. Twelve of them were supposed to go on the hill. While those discussions continue, the remaining 28 will be planted as originally planned. “The city is taking a pause at this time to consider feedback from the community before those move forward,” Brick said. Historic tradition For residents like Will and Erin Shuurman, tobogganing at Sandowne Park is a wintertime tradition. Their family has lived in the area for seven years. “We have five children and every single winter when there’s a snowfall, the children are back here enjoying this hill,” Will said. “For a class project, the kids had to describe their house growing up,” added Erin. “They all put ‘it has a great tobogganing hill in the backyard.’ So, I think it’s one of their favourite parts of our house.” DeVries said kids can’t wait for the start of sledding season. “They will meet up with some of their neighbourhood friends here. They get the stuff on their own, grab the sleds and come over most days after school,” she explained. “If there’s snow on the hill, kids are on the hill.” Sandowne Park has been the go-to spot for more than half a century. “We built our house in 1968 and, having raised three children that are now in their 50s and 40s… they tobogganed with their friends constantly,” said neighbour Anne Beyers. “It’s a social scene as well as physical activity for the kids, and they absolutely love it from the first snowfall to the last snowfall.” The significance of the hill remains, generation after generation. “We are all for trees. I think it’s beautiful and the groves especially are to help with our pollinators,” DeVries said. “We would just like to have our toboggan hill too. If we can make both things happen, that would be ideal.”
