General News » News

Aurora Community Arboretum marks 25th anniversary of creating local paradise

September 30, 2021   ·   0 Comments

They have been on the ground since the very beginning watching their vision take root, and on Saturday they gathered to see their dream come into full bloom as the Aurora Community Arboretum formally marked its 25th anniversary.

Beginning at the head of Industrial Parkway North and St. John’s Sideroad and cutting through a swath of land on either side of the East Holland River down to the foot of John West Way and Wellington Street East in the south, the 100-acre green space has become Aurora’s “Urban Oasis.”

Focused on providing an opportunity for passive recreation and ecological education, all the while fostering more than 1,000 different species of trees and shrubs in a number of types of eco-systems, the Arboretum was founded in 1996.

100 per cent led by volunteers, the early days of the Arboretum were hallmarked by the planting of commemorative trees, which served as a fundraising initiative to further their vision. It has grown significantly since its first Arboretum Master Plan was developed in 2006, with financial support from the Town beginning the following year.

“The Arboretum was set up in 1996 and Ken Smith was really the lead person and the real push behind it,” says Irene Clement who now leads the Arboretum alongside husband John. “We started small, we had a few small grants from March for Parks and other things like that, and we really existed by a lot of volunteer efforts and the money we raised through commemorative trees. In 2006, Town Council voted to approve our Master Plan, which had a funding amount attached to it, and they agreed that the vision we had for the park was worthy of support – and that was really quite forward-looking of them because could you imagine what it would be like in Aurora during COVID-times if you didn’t have the Arboretum to walk around in? I know there are other parks, but this is the biggest park in Town.”

Indeed, prior to COVID-19, one could argue that the Aurora Community Arboretum was one of the Town’s best-kept secrets, but as people looked more and more for things to do close to home, the Arboretum became a natural destination to get fresh air, decompress, and experience nature.

One of the destinations within the Arboretum has been Flora Aurora, a showcase of flowering trees and shrubs that surround the trails near the Aurora Family Leisure Complex, heading east towards the Aurora Seniors’ Centre. Featuring more than 350 species, it’s an explosion of colour during the spring and summer months, as is their Field of Gold initiative which now boasts more than 10,000 bulbs in place, making a “spectacular” visual for several weeks in the Spring.

These are initiatives the Arboretum is particularly proud of during their first quarter-century, as is simply seeing the natural growth of the trees they have planted and the forests they have fostered along the edges of the park and along the river.

“We will continue our efforts to reforest and put in unique specimen trees,” says Ms. Clement on what the near future holds for the Aurora Community Arboretum. “We would also really like to get into educational programming. We have always been restricted simply because we have a small group of volunteers and there is a lot of maintenance to do now, but that is what we would like in the future.

“In the meantime, if you like to be out in nature, you like to walk a variety of paths and see and experience the colours of fall, we have a lot of different maple trees and other trees that turn brilliant reds and yellows. Just go out and explore. There are some paved paths, stoned paths, mowed trails that we do. I think there are a variety of areas and experiences there. Fall is a beautiful time.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter



         

Facebooktwittermail


Readers Comments (0)


You must be logged in to post a comment.

Page Reader Press Enter to Read Page Content Out Loud Press Enter to Pause or Restart Reading Page Content Out Loud Press Enter to Stop Reading Page Content Out Loud Screen Reader Support
Open