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New Alder Street location the Town’s favoured spot for $100,000 Bravery Park

November 16, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Following a prolonged seven-year search, the committee behind the innovative Bravery Park project may have finally found a home in Orangeville.

Last Thursday, several members of the committee met with representatives from the Town of Orangeville and a number of local residents to discuss the possibility of the park being placed beside the Alder Street recreational facility. Original plans for the project include a seven-foot bronze monument, memorial wall, a labyrinth, a pavilion and a playground. It’s slated to cost in the region of $100,000.

Speaking to the Citizen at the meeting, Bravery Park committee chair Shannon McGrady explained her vision for the project, saying she hoped it would become a “place of reflection” for visitors to honour the bravery, achievements and sacrifices of members of the Canadian military.

“When we set out on this journey seven years ago, we did so with the intention of raising awareness and really bringing attention to all of our Canadian soldiers, especially the living,” said Mrs. McGrady. “One of the biggest misconceptions of Bravery Park is that it’s going to essentially become another cenotaph. That isn’t our intention at all. We want this park to be a place that is celebrated, where people can come to be inspired and educated.”

Education was one of the key themes she continued to touch on when speaking about Bravery Park, with an emphasis placed on both teaching youth about the Canadian military and its many missions overseas, and creating awareness of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the debilitating effects it can cause.

“One of the big things we want to address with Bravery Park is education. In my opinion, people just don’t know enough about our Canadian soldiers,” Mrs. McGrady said. “Right now there are 2,250 Canadian veterans living on the streets because of issues they’ve had with alcohol, drugs and depression stemming from PTSD.”

She added, “We have had 159 soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan. 178 soldiers have committed suicide upon their safe return home. It’s really concerning.”

While the concept of Bravery Park today represents a number of positive ideologies, it was born out of tragedy. On May 25, 2007 Orangeville native Matthew McCully was killed by a roadside bomb near a small village outside of Kandahar City, Afghanistan. In what was his second tour of the war-torn Middle Eastern nation, Cpl. McCully had been a member of the Operation Mentoring and Liaison Team training Afghani soldiers.

It was his mother, Valerie McGrady, along with his sister Shannon who first raised the idea of bringing a Bravery Park to Orangeville in 2010. The pair approached Town Council for support of the project, a request that was widely embraced. Since then the committee has seen potential locations at Mill Square Park and Morrow Crescent fall by the wayside. Now, almost seven years into this journey, the proposed site  represents something of a last stand for the committee that just wants to see the project completed in Orangeville.

There were 35 residents in attendance when the meeting kicked off at 7 p.m. and it didn’t take long for some to make their feelings known. One resident who lives behind the proposed site questioned the wisdom of the location, stating the Town has been “unable to maintain the park that is already there,” while another resident raised concerns with teenagers gathering in the area.

“There’s already a problem in that area with kids drinking, smoking and doing drugs. This park will only increase that sort of behaviour. If it can’t be policed properly now, what makes everyone think it will be policed properly with yet another park there,” the resident said.

Other residents were concerned over the privacy problems the park would pose, one saying she would feel uncomfortable socialising in her backyard with her family with an open park and playground just feet away.

The Town’s Director of Parks and Recreation, Ray Osmond, was on hand to mediate the discussion and he suggested the municipality could look to plant a “strategic tree border” along the residential line.

After listening to residents, the Town and members of the committee go back and forth for the best part of 90 minutes, Chris Skalozub, President of the Orangeville Legion, gave a scathing reply to those residents seemingly opposed to the location.

“I’ve watched these people (Bravery Park committee members) fight for this project for a number of years now and I absolutely hate seeing people complaining about having this ‘in my backyard’,” Mr. Skalozub said. “It’s perturbing to me when I see people worrying about the value of property over the value of people and the community.”

Mayor Jeremy Williams appeared to favour the Alder Street site, believing the municipality “finally has the location that is going to be the best fit for Bravery Park.”

Following further discussion among all parties, several residents agreed to meet with the municipality and the committee to discuss plans for the park moving forward.

“This was one of our top picks even before Morrow Crescent came to the table, so we definitely like this site,” said Mrs. McGrady. “I really appreciate all the residents coming out this evening – they definitely had some valid concerns and I think we were expecting to hear about those, but they seemed very open to our ideas and suggestions and I’m hopeful we can work something out for the site.”

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