Eleanor Kidd Park coming back to life

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/06/2024 (473 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For several years, Eleanor Kidd Park was one of the crowning gems of the city of Brandon.

It was the place for wedding photos, family get-togethers, community events or even a little quiet contemplation with a walk down by the Assiniboine River.

Created in 2002, the park was named after Brandon Humane Society founder Eleanor Kidd. It sported a performance stage, fountain plaza and artwork by Westman artist Peter Sawatzky.

But following the 2011 flooding of the river that severely damaged the park, the city was unsure of what to do with it. Three months after the Assiniboine River finally dropped below the official flood stage in Brandon, cleanup efforts remained incomplete, as Eleanor Kidd Park required substantial reworking and rethinking as a city park.

The construction of the dike along the river had to come first, as protection of the city was of paramount importance.

“There’s no sense cleaning the park up right now if people can’t access the park road, which coincides with engineering,” then city manager Rod Sage told the Sun at the time.

The flood had a lasting effect along the river corridor, with the destruction of an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 trees. The park trails were damaged around the Riverbank Discovery Centre, and funds to clean up the mess were difficult to come by. Brandon Riverbank Inc. also lost revenue from booking the once-beautiful gardens for weddings and other events.

It was the fall of 2013 — more than two years later — before the city attempted to remediate the former “jewel” of Brandon. The plan was to get the reshaping done by the fall, and by the spring work on the final landscaping.

And then Brandon suffered another flood in the spring of 2014 and Eleanor Kidd was once again covered in the muddy Assiniboine waters, essentially destroying the efforts of the fall before. By the end of the summer of 2014, Eleanor Kidd, along with the Optimist and Queen Elizabeth green spaces, remained closed.

The destruction of the park, and the continued damage to the Riverbank Discovery Centre left former manager Lois MacDonald expressing a need to rethink the riverbank strategy.

“Maybe it can’t be all the things that we’ve expected it to be,” she told the Sun. “We have to change how we view this area and how we want it managed.”

It was eventually determined that the park would be cleaned up and returned to a more natural state, as part of the Riverbank Master Plan. But by 2016, Eleanor Kidd looked like it had been abandoned by the city. It had become the target of vandals, with some structures damaged and sprayed with graffiti. In addition to the flood damage, the area was overgrown and garbage was strewn around the grounds.

It was clear, as MacDonald pointed out in 2016, that when the public can’t access an area, it can become a magnet for more undesirable activity.

“I am confident that once the decommissioning and subsequent rehabilitation of the park has been completed, and it has been properly incorporated back into the pathway system … it will once again be home to well-intentioned walkers, bikers and park users,” she said.

It has taken 10 years since the flood of 2014 shut down the city’s efforts, but we are glad to see that restoration efforts in the park are moving forward, thanks largely to Bee City Brandon.

The organization first announced plans to revive the long-dormant site last year as a garden promoting native pollinators. That promise has come to fruition as work has begun this month to bring native plants to the area.

As the Sun reported Monday, more than 1,000 native grasses and flowers were planted over three days by Bee Brandon volunteers in an attempt to “turn it into a place for pollinators, plants and people,” according to organizer Sherry Punak-Murphy.

It will take time for the public to understand the future look of what Eleanor Kidd will become — there’s a five-year plan after all. But this year will see the completion of three areas. One bed close to a line of trees with a view to the east will be kept open until the organization confers with and gets advice from Indigenous elders about planting sage, sweet grass and medicinal plants.

Sustainable Brandon member Madelyn Robinson, who was also busy planting this past weekend at Eleanor Kidd, cautioned that the park will not be the same as it used to be. But it will still have a beauty all its own.

And best of all, the new hardier plants will be flood-resistant, meaning that it will be easier for the park to come back into use if and when the Assiniboine floods its banks again.

“This is going to be a very different kind of experience, but I think it will be beautiful,” Robinson said. “I think everybody will eventually think they’re beautiful.”

Considering our city hasn’t been able to use Eleanor Kidd Park since 2011, any restoration of use will be welcome.

Bee Brandon deserves our thanks for taking the initiative.