posted on January 21, 2008

The organizers of the successful Dufferin Grove Park revitalization take their grassroots spit and polish to new frontiers

One rink at a time

By: John Lorinc
Published: January 19, 2008
Source: The Globe and mail

Last Saturday afternoon, something fun but surprisingly unusual happened at the outdoor rink at Campbell Park, a forlorn spot in a slightly scruffy working-class neighbourhood near Dupont and Lansdowne: There was a family skate event, complete with hot chocolate, some lively music pumped over a PA system and a bit of campfire for those with chilly fingers. "We had a really good turnout," says Corey Chivers, a 25-year-old public-space activist who lives near the west-end park and helped to organize the event. He guesses that 40 people came out. "That wouldn't have happened here last year." Such wildly successful family-skate events occur all the time at Dufferin Grove, a storied downtown park that has been enthusiastically revitalized by local residents. But this winter, the core Dufferin Grove organizers decided to franchise their community-friendly concept to two other nearby rinks: Campbell, and Wallace Emerson, at Dupont and Dufferin. The move is partly about revitalizing these other rinks, but is also intended to relieve crowding at a park that has become a victim of its own success.

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