Anyone who's played in the outfield at Millgrove park in the springtime has gone home with soggy shoes. But current work at the site aims to fix that.
The park has been closed since Oct. 14 for construction, which includes upgrades to its stormwater drainage system.
According to the city, the work includes installing new catch basins and, where applicable, replacing old ones. New pipes are being installed between the catchbasins.
“These stormwater pipes will re-direct stormwater from the North West of the park to the South, where stormwater would previously run across the East baseball diamond infield,” the city noted in an email.
Some of the stormwater pipe work is taking place in the outfield of the west baseball diamond, and the warning track will be restored and refreshed with new maglime material.
According to the information provided by the city, the stormwater upgrades were developed with an outside consultant and Conservation Halton, “while being mindful of all adjacent properties and possible limitations of the work.”
The current phase of the project also includes replacing the playground equipment between the two ball diamonds and installing wood fibre safety surfacing. A new asphalt path between the parking area and the playground will be installed to improve accessibility, the city said in an email.
Additional work includes removing the wood timber retaining wall next to the playground and replacing it with armour stone.
Planning for the Millgrove Park upgrades started in 2022, with a public survey on the playground features. The first phase of construction took place in November, 2022 with the installation of a new catch basin and piping on the west side of the park.
The contractor for the current phase of the project is Three Seasons Landscaping Group, with a total submitted cost of $247,900 to date. “We will not know final cost until the project has concluded,” noted the city in the email.
The city says the upgrades will improve local residents’ enjoyment of the park “for years to come, while also improving stormwater drainage that would previously cause the east baseball diamond to be very wet, allowing for improved baseball diamond use.”
The park is slated to reopen for use the week of Nov. 11, depending on the weather or unexpected delays.
