Short provincial funding, Amherstburg mulls park plans

Centennial Park seen in Amherstburg, Ont. on July 6, 2025. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor)

After missing out on provincial funding, the Town of Amherstburg will look at potentially scaling back plans for a redeveloped Centennial Park.

A report headed to council on July 14 outlines five options to develop the park under new cost constraints.

The news was “upsetting” to Molly Allaire, a town councillor, who said she is receiving “mixed reviews” about which option is ideal for the space.

“If you are fully redeveloping Centennial Park, it is a paved parking lot, a pathway around, multipurpose courts. We’re essentially trying to get all the amenities that we did once have here back, which is ideal, just expensive,” Allaire said.

Without the funding, Alaire noted council will go “back to the drawing board” to decide a path forward.

Options being presented to council include building:

• One tennis court and one multi-use court
• Two tennis courts
• Two multi-use courts
• An accessible pathway around the park
• Half of a paved parking lot

In August 2024, the province announced a $200 million recreation fund to help repair and build parks and sporting facilities. As the program only paid up to 50 per cent of a project, the town has already earmarked $530,000 for the construction.

While Allaire wasn’t ready to share her preferred option, the councillor noted many residents have been interested in building the pathway.

“We have a long-term facility coming in. We have the seniors; we have the hub. It makes a lot of sense,” Allaire noted.

She added there’s also been significant support for a multi-use court to appeal to youth in the area and at nearby schools.

“So unfortunately, this was a $1 million idea, we only have 500,000 now, so what do we do?” she added.

In future, Allaire said they could look to other government grants to add to the park. She encouraged interested residents to sign up to speak at the July 14 meeting or create a written submission for council.