Recreation improvements still needed

July 4, 2013 · 0 Comments

Dear Mr. Crewson and members of Shelburne Council,

I am writing this letter to inform you that I feel the track at Hyland Park needs to be upgraded. I am unsure if the track is truly 400 metres long, and a track that is not an accurate distance, frustrates myself and other runners. When you think that you have ran a personal best on this track, you really have not, so when you enter a race you can be disappointed with your time because it is slower than what you ran on the track at Hyland Park. Also, the track is not very wide, so when you are running on it with a group, there are often many trips and falls. These accidents will cause runners to not want to run on the track at Hyland Park, and there is no other track around anymore. In addition, the track is made out of a bad material…gravel. Gravel makes runs a lot slower and when it rains, the track becomes soggy and covered in puddles, making it hard to get a good run in. Finally, there is no place for fans watching events at the track to sit. These people are forced to have to either bring their own chairs, or sit on grass that could be wet and muddy.

To improve the track, you could ensure that the track is exactly 400 metres long, and widen the track so that it has 8 lanes with lines to distinguish the lanes. Also, you could make the track out of a synthetic material to improve times. You also may want to consider installing bleachers for fans to watch events that are taking place at the track. These improvements could lead to many different track and field meets being held at Hyland Park, like the Elementary School Track Meet and various high school meets. Having a track like this could even lead to the formation of a running club in Shelburne.

To help fund this idea, the town could partner with local service clubs. Additionally, I plan on forwarding this letter to Dr. Martha Rogers, the Director of Education for the Upper Grand District School Board and Lynn Topping, our local school board trustee to make them aware of my ideas.

I have been pleased to see recent improvements to various recreation sites around Shelburne, including the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex, the BMX park, the skateboard park and the future soccer pitch at Greenwood Park. Obviously, Shelburne’s Town Council considers recreation to be important to its residents.

I would appreciate it if you would keep my ideas regarding the track at Hyland Park in mind, the next time you are considering making upgrades to recreation opportunities in Shelburne.

Nicholas Bannon, age 13

Student of Hyland Heights Elementary School