The northwest entrance to Port Elgin's North Shore Park. North Shore Park is the proposed site of the Port Elgin splash pad.

Editor’s Note: At a September 12 Saugeen Shores Committee of the Whole meeting, it was stated that incorrect information had been circulated with regard to the ownership and intended use of the North Shore Park property, the proposed site of a 226 square metre splash pad, and that through a title search undertaken by the municipality’s solicitor, it was determined that the registered owner of North Shore Park is The Corporation of the Village of Port Elgin and that the cited use for the land was a public park with no restrictions.

See: Misinformation and speculation debunked at Council

In a September 13 email, Paul Knechtel, Friends of North Shore Park stated that when work was being done to identify the donor of the property, there were some challenges and on September 6 he received a call from Bruce County Museum Archives that the research that had been conducted had proved incorrect. "That part of Port Elgin started out as Lake Range Lot 42 which was subdivided into park lots. Those park lots were then subdivided and if you have ever looked at land records you know these subdivisions can be very confusing." Knechtel added that the land donated by Stevens had been mistakenly identified as North Shore Park. "When further research identified the true donor, the Archives staff contacted the Friends of North Shore Park." Knechtel continued, "It is regretful this happened but we were given the wrong information. When we learned of the error we immediately took action and modified the online background history section," wrote Knechtel, adding that the history was not on any paper petitions nor was it included in the petition to Council. "What is really interesting is we now know that North Shore Park has been a public park for 110 years. Think of how many generations of families have enjoyed the peaceful tranquility of this well-forested public park."

Editor,

A rise in public sentiment opposed to the cutting down of any trees and altering the natural habitat within the historic 110 year old North Shore Park, located in Port Elgin, continues.

Online and paper petitions to preserve the trees and maintain the green space have surpassed 1,400 signatures and the concern shows no sign of slowing.

The savenorthshorepark.org petition is calling upon Saugeen Shores Council to keep North Shore Park in Port Elgin a green space through a three-point action plan (below).

As representatives of the advocacy group, Friends of North Shore Park, we maintain that the existing mature trees need to be protected, that more need to be planted and that this unique public forest needs to be protected as a green space for the community.

We believe that Saugeen Shores Council has greatly underestimated the history, importance, and community passion for this peaceful, mostly natural, treed refuge, and call it a one-of-a-kind sanctuary you won't be able to find or recreate once the damage is done.

The Friends of North Shore Park are not against a splash pad somewhere else in the community if at budget time it is found to be fiscally responsible, but we believe the North Shore Park location decision is contrary to public opinion and that this project should not take precedence over the historic, natural setting.

Council was elected to make decisions with due diligence and in everyone's best, long term interests but we believe they’re not seeing the forest for the trees in this situation. With mature green space already disappearing along the shoreline, why the recent motion to alter the unique, forested, public park forever?

Ultimately, the Friends of North Shore Park believe a splash pad is not a significant or unique tourist draw and that leaving the one-of-a-kind forest intact as well as preserving the remaining natural beauty and peaceful setting for generations to come should be a priority.

The Friends of North Shore Park three-step call to action for the Saugeen Shores Council:
1. Rescind the North Shore Park location motion in principle as soon as possible,
2. Proclaim with a by-law the preservation of North Shore Park as a public forest a top priority, and
3. Begin the search for a more suitable splash pad location.

Jody Mahon, Dave Hornsby and Paul Knechtel,
Friends of North Shore Park