Waterloo Park improvements (Silver Lake)

I am a little confused. The fountain startup crew worked to get all the water features working in the NEW Waterloo Park prior to the Victoria day long weekend. On the Friday they shut off the fountains and left. Here it is a the end of May and they are still dry. What is going on here? What are waiting for? Thousand of people are enjoying the park the last couple of weeks. More than eve before. Lets give them the whole package. I overlook Waterloo park and Silver lake and enjoy the new view

I live at Park House, 43 Caroline St overlooking Silver Lake and all the wonderful improvements that are completed. Directly below our building is an area called existing forest on the map. What did grow there has long since been removed and we are left with a mud flat with zero vegetation. When will this sad state be improved.
Like what had been done ‘so far’.
Looking forward to your solution.

Sad! It keeps looking more and more like a sea of asphalt! I had hope at the beginning, I thought "well, it takes time" and so on. Sadly, the area looks more barren, less beautiful and, more importantly, devoid of lush vegetation that is so needed. Almost no shade, what once was a park is now a train track.....you did indeed "pave Paradise and put on a parking lot!"

Washrooms are out on the hill near the old water park. No outhouses around for public use. Shame on Waterloo.

Hi,
I went to use the washrooms at the top of the hill near where the old water park was and the washroom is not in service because of the construction, which is understandable. So I figured there may be an outhouse around. Wrong there is no place to use the washroom, shame on Waterloo!
I decided to go to the Waterloo Tennis Club, which is a private club, thankfully I was let in after I showed my proof of double vaccination.

There needs to be some kind of washroom available if the washrooms on the hill is going to be out of service.

What is happening with Waterloo Park?

It is disappointing to see nothing but a brown mess and no work being done.

What is happening with the reconstruction at the Park?

It is disappointing to see nothing but a brown mess.

When will the little area between the old train station and the corner of Erb and Caroline be renovated. It where the Mutual clock tower is.
This area seems to have been missed when the Ion track work was done.

I can 5 trees near the Perimeter Institute that have not been bull dozed - do you need some money for more diesel

It's telling they say they had no choice but to clear-cut the area around Silver Lake, since the reasons mentioned are design plans entirely under their control. This is the very typical double-speak I've come to expect from the city.

I think many people assume this was incompetence or some kind of bizarre accident. But we have to understand it was entirely deliberate. They want Waterloo to bring in more revenue and to have a more pro-business environment, and they think the way to do this is to mimic Toronto.

What the city fails to understand is you can't just cut down all the trees and replace everything with metal and concrete, and then suddenly improve the local economy. It's like thinking the way to get pregnant is by walking around with a stroller.

Now just watch as the city uses photos of the pre-renovation park when they try to convince people of how great Waterloo is, and that Waterloo hasn't transformed into a concrete bedroom community, fueled by corrupt landlords and student binge drinking.

Shorelines should be as natural as possible and be allowed to have a variety of native willows and other native to flora grow there. Not only will they act as filters for runoff and stabilize the shoreline as opposed to the current thought of installing hard stone walls, but will discourage waterfowl from settling there and thereby discourage the persistent humans that are determined to feed the waterfowl (in spite of the bylaw that forbids this) that entice the birds to stay there and breed more hungry mouths to feed that become dependent on the handouts.

Concerned about removing trees and planning to create a large open area called Silver Lake Plaza.
Why is this being done when the City Council says they are concerned about climate warming? -they have declared a climate emergency. Why do we need a plaza in the park with an artificial beach in front? What is the rationale? We should be planting trees and conserving natural areas instead of creating open mowed areas. Everyone knows the value of trees for releasing oxygen into the air plus the shade they provide. The noise and gatherings in this area will discourage the wildlife like the great blue herons that used to come to the quiet areas of the park. Are councillors listening at all to the comments here from residents who are disappointed in this plan?

I am aghast at the number of mature trees that were removed due to this project. Waterloo Park has been permanently scarred. I strongly believe that the rehabilitation of the lake did not need to include clear cutting the last little bit of forest along Father David Bauer. Even if there were invasive species there, rehabilitation could have happened and those willow trees were not sick. A reminder to city staff that 'arborists' are not ecologists and that mature native trees in landscape plans take an entire human lifetime to grow. The cutting down of mature native trees should not be taken lightly and it is shameful that our region and cities don't have bylaws to protect these beautiful organisms.

Deeply concerned about the ecological consequences of removing mature trees and hardscaping instead of greenscaping using natural features that provide habitat and ecological services. The life in this park is why we cherish the space so much. It seems from those witnessing the changes that a biodiversity or conservation expert must be hired immediately to review and determine how the plans can be adapted to support new growth and habitat.

It is shameful the clear cutting that has gone on with this project. For a city that touts itself as forward thinking and 'smart', rather than selectively thinning older or diseased trees in the park, the landscaping is in fact clear cutting. Strangely all this clear cutting was missing from the original landscaping project and we were assured that 'the trees would be ok'. There's no excuse in this day of environmental awareness that healthy mature trees especially those native to the area, walnut, beech, oak, willow, 50+ yo serviceberry trees can't be saved. Dozens of bird habitats for hawks, red winged blackbirds, kinglets, blue jays, wrens, robins, song sparrows, finches, woodpeckers (at least 3 species), etc etc. have been destroyed. Any marsh animals and amphibians will be unable to make a habitat in concrete block embankments that were put in to solve the problems of erosion because no trees or plants were left in place to help prevent it. The environment needs diversity of native plants to support native insects who help pollinate and are food for the birds and other fauna. Native cat-tails threatened by invasive phragmites were bulldozed in the marsh areas. The marsh land area which contributes to cleaning our water supply was cut in half. Rather than involve the community as they have in the past to help clear out invasive plants, the quick, 'cheap' and easy solution has been taken yet again. It has been heart breaking in a time when connect to nature is the only solace some people have. This is a great example of 1950's landscaping, no progress has been made.

We watched a few of those huge trees come down last week, and believe me they were totally right to remove them and all the weedy shrubs below them. Garbage trees.
When it fell it was an explosion of dust. The tree just crumbled into small pieces and dry dust. They were all dead except for the vines that covered them.

Time to change the picture at the top of this page, since those lovely, mature and essential trees have all been cut down. Sad to see the indiscriminate destruction that went on for days.

Looks like the conservation is looking the other way on this one, very dirty water running through the river, looks like its just mud piled up to put the river around the pond with no absolutely no regard for erosion. The rock wall looks like it was done in the dark, and mud all over the site. Not to mention the clear cutting of the bush. Shame

Did they bulldoze the trails by accident because the people in charge don't know the park very well? Or did they do it on purpose to stop people from using the trails?

Was clearcutting along Father David Bauer Drive the first step before they sell off parts of the park to build more condo towers and convenience stores?

Once the fake beach is installed, will they take a few photos with paid models to use as marketing materials, knowing the beach will quickly fall into disuse? (Or maybe it could be a future social media challenge: See who can get a skin rash the fastest!)

It's difficult for me to understand someone who looked at the park and thought to themselves, "You know, there just isn't enough concrete here. And all those trees ruin the view of those apartment towers."

Why would the planners remove the trees along the Laurel Creek area west of Silver Lake, many of which were huge offering excellent shade and protection from erosion? What devastation!