Dominion Park celebrates grand re-opening in Saint John

The new look of Saint John, N.B., Dominion Park is starting to take shape.

The city of Saint John held a grand reopening of the park Saturday afternoon as part of its Passport to Parks summer event series, where city staff and residents celebrated the completion of Phase 1 of the park’s enhancements.

“It has been a staple here for over 100 years,” says Derek Chaisson, the chair of the Dominion Park Community Association. “It has always been a very busy place and it’s always been cherish within the community so I think everyone is just overjoyed to see this come to fruition.”

Park improvements in phase one include a new canteen complete with washrooms and a designated lifeguard office, a sunset plaza complete with seating and sun protection, new picnic facilities, improved beach access, and change rooms. City officials plan to lease the canteen to a private operator.

It is just the first of a three phase project to reimagine the beach front after floods heavily damaged the area, including the destruction of the former canteen, in 2018 and 2019. The $1.4 million project was a joint funded effort from all three levels of government.

“What it says is that quality of life investments such as Dominion Park, recreation and leisure services, are something that all three levels of government agree in,” says Saint John City councillor, Greg Norton.

“We’ve got families that have grand kids, they’ve got kids and they love seeing the investment that is happening here,” continues Norton. “So two, three, four years down the road it’s going to be to see not only the kids in the community grow up around it, but also to see what the park does in those next couple of years.”

Saint John Lancaster MLA Dorothy Shephard, and MP Wayne Long both use to come to Dominion Park beach as kids, and are excited to see a bright future for the site.

“Knowing that the people here really value this gem we will build it bigger and better,” Shephard says. “And remember what its roots were.”

“Our city, our region are full of these treasures,” says Long, referring to Dominion Park. “And we just have to spread the word and get it out to the rest of Canada.”

Residents will notice one more major addition to the park in the weeks to come. A water accessibility ramp going down to the water will be added to the beachfront, marking the first of its kind in the greater Saint John area.

“It’s more of a permeant piece of infrastructure rather than a roll out mat,” says Chaisson. “We had that ask come out after we had finalized phase one, but with the heart-leading letters we received from the members of the communities with disabilities we knew we had to act now.”

The second phase of work will include a new playground built on the waters edge, and a new multi-purpose sports court on the site of the existing pay structure. Work will begin on phase two following fundraising efforts, with a completion goal of 2025.

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