Grand Reopening of Kingston’s Victoria Park

Grand Reopening of Kingston's Victoria Park
*This post is sponsored by TD and the TD Common Ground Project.  All opinions are my own, or that of my family.*

GrandReopening Victoria Park

TD has been generously celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday – or Sesquicentennial, which is a word I now love!  The TD Common Ground Project is revitalizing urban green spaces in many communities across Canada.

Here in Kingston, one of the oldest community parks, Victoria Park, got a beautiful upgrade thanks to the donation from TD .  I was amazed to learn that Victoria Park turned 125 years old this July.  You can read a little history on the park in this article from The Kingston Whig Standard.

My girls and I were able to take in the grand reopening ceremonies, which were held on July 30th.

Some city officials were there to celebrate.  The town crier cried out for the community to gather at 11am and we heard short speeches from the mayor, Bryan Patterson, and Mark Gerretsen our MP.  There was a ribbon cutting, and then the splash pad was turned on.  (I think that was the highlight for my girls!)

 

There were a ton of things to do during the park’s grand reopening ceremony. 

Grand ReOpening Victoria Park

TD was giving away swag – we got sunglasses, sunscreen, a stress ball and a beach ball!  Then the girls had to visit the TD tent so they could paint the large mural they had erected there. 

Mio Gelato was giving away gelato to the first 200 folks in line, then you could buy their goods for the rest of the celebration.

There were bouncy castles for the kids to have a ball with.

And then, of course, the splash pad!  Once it was officially turned on, music was played and everyone enjoyed the day.

I was surprised by the number of people who had come out.  We ran into many friends and schoolmates of the girls.  It’s so nice to see the city working hard to get the community together for these events.

 

I am very impressed by the fresh, new beauty of this community park.  I spent a few years walking through Victoria Park as a student at Queen’s University and this is the most beautiful I have ever seen it.

The picnic areas have new, easy to use, barbeque pits and accessible picnic tables.  We came with a picnic and I was amazed how easy it was to see both the splash pad area and the climbing structures right from the picnic table.  I let my girls run off and play while I sat and watched the world go by (and took some pictures!)

Grand ReOpening Victoria Park

We are planning to visit the park a few more times this summer.  (We’re hopeful there will be a few less people so we can better enjoy the space!)  The native plants in the new garden will only get better with time, and maybe I can capture a few more beautiful images with fewer people cluttering up the view!

Have you visited Victoria Park since its Grand Reopening?  What did you think?  Leave me a comment and share your views on the newly revitalized park space.  We had a lot of fun at the opening ceremonies and we can’t wait to go back!

Grand ReOpening Victoria Park

Be sure to visit my previous post to see just how much work really went into this project.  Between the TD Common Ground project, and the City of Kingston, a lot of hard work went into getting this park ready to bring the community together!  The girls and I were very happy to be a part of bringing awareness to the project.

~Jess

To learn more about the Victoria Park project, please visit:

TD Common Ground Project

Facebook: Facebook.com/TDCanada

Twitter: @TD_Canada

Instagram: TD_Canada

YouTube: youtube.com/user/TDCanada

#TDCommonGround
 
 

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42 Comments

    1. Swag bags are always a hit, aren’t they? The summer weather has been going strong the last few weeks, we were happy to see the city reopened all the splash parks for the kids to enjoy!
      ~Jess

  1. It’s brilliant when the community gets behind a outdoor space for the community. We’ve just had that where my mum lives and the grand opening was great to see everyone come and join in. A lovely day.. ‪Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky‬

    1. It’s amazing to see the city and/or community coming together. Outdoor spaces are so important. Cities need to ensure there are naturalized areas for families to get out and enjoy nature. Thanks for the comment Karen!
      ~Jess

    1. We sure did Mandy! The weather has been so beautiful everyone has been enjoying the park for 2 months now! They just turned the splash parks off this week. (That’s unheard of for October in Ontario, Canada!)
      ~Jess

  2. The event sounds as though it was a fun packed day! Lots for the children to do too. You came prepared with a packed lunch rather than relying on food being served there.

  3. Hi Jessica. I’ve only been to Kingston once and it was a snowstormy day, so I haven’t had a really good look at the city and have not been to Victoria Park. Would love to return some day during summer!

  4. Sesquicentennial – Wow! What a beautiful word. I won’t even attempt to pronounce it. It’s too beautiful – I might just ruin it. lol! & Wow! What a historic moment. I’m impressed that the park still stands – most parks now-a-day turned into flats and factories. It’s really sad. I’m glad they can carry and made it a tradition to celebrate such park with lots of great activities for younger generations.

    Thank you Jess for linking up with us on #ExplorerKids xx

    1. Our town is very proud of it’s history. Being Canada’s first capital (if just for a short time) gives Kingston a rich past. I’m glad we have many beautiful historic areas for everyone to enjoy.
      ~Jess

  5. Looks like a wonderful park Jessica! I’m in Oregon so won’t be visiting anytime soon, but it’s still nice to learn about such nice places. I enjoy parks and any time spent outdoors, in fact, I live on the edge of a national forest and take advantage of the open areas and hiking trails every chance I get. Thanks so much for sharing!

    1. It must be beautiful living next to a national forest. I’m a little jealous Marquita! We try to get outside as much as possible as well, so having a revitalized park helps us do that!
      ~Jess

    1. It really was lovely. I think it would be great if the city threw a bash like this more often for the communities. But regardless, it’ll be a great park to visit a few times every summer. 🙂
      ~Jess

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