{"id":19933,"date":"2018-02-22T11:39:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T16:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=19933"},"modified":"2018-02-22T11:39:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T16:39:34","slug":"inside-aurora-central-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-central-park\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: Central Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the big local news stories recently is Newmarket\u2019s decision to develop a green space that is said will emulate New York\u2019s Central Park.
\nTo be located at Mulock and Yonge, the 11 acre park is expected to include water features, trails, a skating rink, fire pits and market vendors.
\nThe whole project is projected to cost $24M.
\nIt has been suggested that this once again shows that our neighbour to the north continues to be one step ahead of Aurora.
\nI beg to differ. In fact, in this case I think they\u2019re playing \u201ccatch up.\u201d
\nSure, Newmarket may have some admirable infrastructure and programs that Aurora does not, but as far as a \u201cCentral Park\u201d, we beat them to that ages ago.
\nWe know ours as Sheppard\u2019s Bush.
\nLike Newmarket\u2019s proposed park, it is centrally located within our municipality, and has extensive walking trails.
\nWhile it may not have market vendors, which Aurorans can experience elsewhere in Town at events such as the Street Sale or Farmers\u2019 Markets, Sheppard\u2019s Bush does have a number of elements that Newmarket\u2019s new park will not.
\nFirst is an extensive connection to other green spaces.
\nUnlike the new park, which will be surrounded by development, Sheppard\u2019s Bush is part of one contiguous park system that stretches right from the north to south borders of Aurora.
\nThis not only expands the trail system, but provides an extended wildlife corridor along the Holland River, a significant water feature which burbles through the heavily forested Sheppard\u2019s Bush. A walk through this area may result in encounters with woodpeckers, deer, muskrats, owls and any other of the dozens of species found there.
\nApart from waterways and an abundance of animal life, our park has a picnic pavilion, a historic log cabin, and even a fitness trail.
\nThere are about a dozen extensively used playing fields, including an artificial turf one.
\nAlso unique to Sheppard\u2019s Bush is the Windfall Ecology Centre. Located within the park, this non-profit enterprise is dedicated to building sustainable communities through conservation, education, renewable energy and water protection.
\nSheppard\u2019s Bush is also home to an increasing variety of special events throughout the year, such as Hallowe\u2019en\u2019s Haunted Forest, the canine-themed Paws in the Park, and numerous soccer tournaments.
\nAnd no one wants to miss the annual Lions Club pancake breakfast that takes place late each winter. Enjoying a hot meal covered in maple syrup while sitting outside in the snow amidst this former sugar bush…well, you can\u2019t get much more Canadian than that.
\nPerhaps the biggest difference between the two parks is size. You could easily fit five of Newmarket\u2019s \u201cCentral Park\u201d inside Sheppard\u2019s Bush, and still have room to spare.<\/p>\n

So, while our park may not have all of the features suggested for Newmarket\u2019s proposed park, it has a lot going for it in any season.
\nBetter yet, it\u2019s centrally located, and unlike our neighbour\u2019s proposed park, which is still a few years away, Sheppard\u2019s Bush is available for Aurorans to use any time, and we don\u2019t have to fork out an additional $50 a household to purchase it.
\nSo, well done to Newmarket\u2019s council for deciding to develop their own central park.
\nAnd in future, should you wish to copy any other successful ideas Aurora has already implemented and enjoyed for years, feel free. I\u2019m sure your residents will appreciate it.<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston One of the big local news stories recently is Newmarket\u2019s decision to develop a green space that is said will emulate New York\u2019s Central Park. To be located at Mulock and Yonge, the 11 acre park is expected to include water features, trails, a skating rink, fire pits and market vendors. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5bv","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 08:30:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}