City of Windsor moving ahead with new dog parks, Peace Fountain design

The City of Windsor is moving ahead with a new design for the Peace Fountain, as well astwonew dog parks.

At itsmeeting on Monday, city council supported moving ahead with upgradesto the Charles Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain at Reaume Park.

The Toronto architecture firm Partisans had preparedthree options to refurbish the famous display. The 1978fountainis long past its original expectancy and has issues with the plumbing, lighting and controls,says a city report.

Administration recommended that council choose the first option, which is afloating fountain similar to the currentdesign.It was also thecheapest option, at a cost of$7 millionto $8.1 million.

The design would result in a63 per cent reduction in electricity use, translating to savings of more than $32,000 per year for the city.

The fountain is expected to be ready for 2025, the report says.The current fountain would operateuntil 2023 and would be offline for 2024.

Charles Brooks, who was killed in1977, wasthe first president of what is now Unifor Local 444.

His son, George Brooks, spoke at Monday's meeting and pitched renamingthe fountain to add "international" to its name.

"We are besieged with war and chaos in fronts all over the world," he said. "And it presents, as far as I'm concerned, a very unique opportunity for the city of Windsor."

Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac moved a motion in favour of choosing option one and establishing a committee to begin fundraising.

Her motion also supported the idea of renaming the fountain.

2 new dog parks

Council also green-lit two new off-leash dog parks.

One wouldbelocated atOakwood Park, near Hwy. 401 and Cabana Road, while the other would be at Elizabeth Kishkon Park near Little River Boulevard and Banwell Road.

A motion to immediately begin the process to add the parks, introduced by Coun. Jeewen Gill, was passed.

A report prepared by staff said that each park would cost $400,000 to $450,000 with annual maintenance in the range of$5,000 to $10,000.

The projects could be paid for through existing funds without impacting any other projects, council heard.

The new parks would be subject to a public consultationprocess prior to getting the final go-ahead.