Allyson Beauregard
Allyson Beauregard
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC – The municipality’s vision for the rehabilitation of the Luskville Recreational Park will soon become a reality after they were one of 16 communities – and the only in Québec – to be awarded a ‘Field of Dreams’ grant through the Jays Care Foundation. Robert Witchel, Executive Director of the Foundation, announced the recipients during a Blue Jays Game on April 17.
“We are very grateful for this contribution, which aims first at increasing our youths’ access to baseball, but will benefit all baseball enthusiasts. This contribution confirms in some ways that we did our homework by conducting consultations and developing an investment plan,” said Mayor Joanne Labadie in a press release. Numerous consultations on all of the municipality’s parks were held in 2016 to gather residents’ input, opinions, and visions for their future.
Meghan Lewis, the municipal recreational and community life coordinator who submitted the application for the grant early last fall, said the main priority identified for the Luskville Park during the consultations was safety, most notably lighting.
“The lighting around the park is in dire need of repair. Some light posts are broken and one actually fell over last year,” she said, noting some of the activities planned at the park last year had to be cancelled because of the problem. “We need a safer, more adequate, functional, and pleasant park for all generations,” she added.
Council is currently in the process of analyzing costs, “crunching numbers” and waiting for results of other grant applications before it finalizes details of the improvements. The grant is expected to cover most of the costs and work will be
completed during the summer.
