Parking lot to be turned into public park in Hamilton

It’s been a project in the making for years. A public parking lot that takes up an entire block at John St. near King William St. will be turned into a community park.

Councillor Jason Farr says the two acres of pavement in the Beasley neighbourhood will begin its transformation next spring. It will include a splash pad and play areas that are to be designed with a modern twist.

Just outside of the park site is a building that currently houses a temporary safe injection site, but will be a high rise condo building in the future.

Phase One won’t affect Club 77 and LULU’s Shawarma that are on the site but eventually the city will need to acquire both buildings. The owners of LULU’s say they just renewed their lease on their restaurant and say based on the pop up park the city held in the lot last summer, a green space doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Farr says the two businesses on site will continue to operate normally for now, but says any new uses for the buildings will not be permitted as the entire site has already been designated park land.

The first phase, which was expedited thanks to a $1 million dollar donation from Patrick J. McNally charitable foundation, will in total cost $2.5 million with the remaining funds coming from city park reserves.