The improvements continue in Callander’s Centennial Park

Callander’s Centennial Park on Main Street is becoming a crown jewel of the town for residents and visitors alike. With beautiful lake views, a new playground, sprawling splash pad and seating aplenty, what’s not to like? Recently the town added some more touches to the park to further improve the setting.

Plus, this year saw the addition of food on site, thanks to Moose on the Loose that operates the park’s canteen every weekend throughout the summer months. Last year, the pavilion was installed, which has already become a key feature of the park.

It’s a stunning building, and folks have been renting it out for birthdays and other get-togethers. However, the municipality was keen to keep public access to the pavilion a main priority, so council and staff struck a nice balance between private rentals and public use. To rent the pavilion for an event, simply call the Municipal Office.

See: Strolling Callander’s waterfront is about to get easier

And now the pavilion has furniture. Municipal staff recently installed six tables, two of which are designed to accommodate wheelchairs. The tables are round, with six chairs attached. Staff can also remove the furniture if requested by a renter.

There are two new garbage cans at the pavilion as well, to ensure the place keeps clean. The cost for such comfort and style came to $17,620.

The small parking lot on Main Street also received a boost, with new curbs, and 20 pier posts installed. The posts help buttress the parking lot and add a decorative touch as well. More rocks were brought in, and many more shrubs were planted. In total, this year’s spend on Centennial Park rang in at $27,920.

Last fall, the main parking lot was also paved, complete with six handicapped parking spots near the boardwalk, and that cost $40,000.

With all of the improvements, the vision of the park is complete. However, there is still some more to come. Indeed, the park keeps getting better.

“And that’s the whole point,” noted Mayor Robb Noon, “and that’s what we hope to continue.”

“As we can afford it, we’ll keep adding improvements year after year and hopefully continue to draw people to our municipality.”

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.