By COREY LAROCQUE , REVIEW STAFF WRITER
If Queen Victoria Park looks bad, all of Niagara Falls looks bad, says a citizens group concerned about what its members say is the deterioration of buildings, roads, sidewalks and streetlights on Niagara Parks Commission property.
The Preserve Our Parks group acquired about 60 photographs of what its members call “neglect and deterioration” of the park.
“We think the people have a right to see these photos. I think they’ll be appalled,” said Pat Mangoff, an organizer of the Preserve Our Parks group, a self-appointed watchdog.
They show things like broken curbs, potholes, flaking paint and rust on streetlights, rusted railings on outdoor stairways and broken panes of glass on decorative lampposts. One image shows the rusting body of the decommissioned incline railway that used to be in service by the Maid of the Mist area.
But Niagara Parks Commission general manager John Kernahan said the photos show the kind of disrepair common on public property following the ravages of winter.
“Anybody who has an operational understanding of municipal- type infrastructure wouldn’t be surprised by these pictures, given the time of year they were taken,” said Kernahan.
Mangoff said she believes the pictures were taken over the Easter weekend in April, but doesn’t know who took them – only that they were forwarded to her group.
It formed in 2004 to oppose the commission’s plans to build a cable-car ride in the Niagara gorge between the Maid of the Mist elevator and Table Rock House.
The Preserve Our Parks group’s concerns about “deterioration” are the tip of the iceberg.
When five members met Tuesday to discuss the pictures, the topic turned to other beefs they have with the parks commission, including the renewal of a lease with the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co., the amount of money spent on the new Niagara’s Fury attraction and the fact the commission meets in secret.
Preserve Our Parks members said they wonder if the deterioration they perceive in Queen Victoria Park is because the parks commission doesn’t have enough money to stay on top of routine maintenance because its money is tied up in new attractions like Niagara’s Fury, the $7-million venue it opened last year.
If the commission operated more openly, the public could see its decisions and have a better understanding of whether they do or don’t have the money to maintain their property, they said.
“The central issue is, how much of this would be happening if they could be open,” said Marya Buckingham, a Preserve Our Parks member.
“If they were open and doing their job, nobody would have to be playing watchdog.”
City council will give the group a forum for their concerns at its June 29 meeting. Council also invited the parks commission to respond to the photos and the group’s concerns about maintenance in Queen Victoria Park.
Parks commission officials don’t plan to attend.
“Oh no. We’re not doing that,” Kernahan said. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for council to deal with the matter. They have no jurisdiction.”
Kernahan said he has offered through city hall to meet privately with the group about maintenance issues.
The parks commission has a budget for maintenance and has plans to paint streetlights and replace broken glass. A photo of a broken concrete curb appears to be the result of a snow plow strike, Kernahan said.
“For the most part, they are works under construction or the normal types of experiences you see every spring,” said Kernahan, an engineer with 25 years’ experience in public works with the Niagara region and the City of London.
“These are operational items we have to keep up with and we do this in the fullness of time.”
Kernahan denied Niagara’s Fury is taking money away from park maintenance, saying the new attraction is the reason the park commission’s attractions revenue is up from last year.
Coun. Janice Wing is the reason parks commission maintenance issues are going to be discussed at the next council meeting, after she raised the Preserve Our Parks concerns last week.
“The Niagara Parks has always kept Queen Victoria Park very nicely. It’s always been immaculate. What I’m seeing is something less than immaculate,” Wing said, adding she was “shocked” by the pictures.
While council has no control over the parks commission, its maintenance is a “valid” issue at city hall, she said. If the public’s impression of Niagara Falls is tarnished, it could affect future tourism, the success of businesses and city property tax revenue.
The millions of people who visit Queen Victoria Park aren’t aware of the distinction between city parks and those run by the Niagara Parks Commission, a provincial government agency, Wing said.
Kernahan dismissed that idea, calling it “silly.”
He said he would be”glad” to put the condition of Niagara Parks property up against the condition of “any one of their (city) parks.”
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Decide for yourself,
Are potholes, flaking paint and rusty streetlights signs the Niagara Parks Commission has let maintenance in Queen Victoria Park slide, as the Preserve Our Parks watchdog group claims? Or are they simply the ravages of winter that have to be fixed up, as parks commission management says. Photos the Preserve Our Parks citizens group will present to city council are reproduced on The Review’s website.
Go to www.niagarafallsreview.ca
Here are a few shots.
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This is the result of not having enough staff to maintain the parks properly
