St. Thomas Park Project

7 Schools, 11 Classes responded May 14th & May 27th 2021:

SCHOOLS, 11 Classes, All Different Subjects Connect

June Rose PS

Forest Park PS

Parkside Secondary

Arthur Voaden

East Elgin

Central Elgin

New park in downtown St. Thomas

ENTRY Point - What do we want to be as a community? How do we want to be represented?

Watch Track to the Future to learn about initiatives in St. Thomas. View the mural in close proximity to the park painted by Meaghan Kehoe.

Track to the FutureThis is "Track to the Future" by Ryan Gransden on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Prompting Jamboard questions for students:

How do you see yourself represented in the community? How could this park support youth identity?
How would you like to see the park space used? Events?
What elements would you like to see included?
What makes a park space work? What makes them fail?
How should we consider social elements, like support for the homeless or people contending with mental health issues or addiction?
How do you travel around town? Ex. Bikes? Skateboard? Trails? Scooter? Walk?

The park will be located in the vacant lot next to the St. Thomas Public Library, formerly the site of the local police service.

Industry Experts

What goes into the design process?

CEO of the St. Thomas Public Library, Heather Robinson, who will talk about the challenges involved in managing public spaces. Re-doing the front of the Library.

Joe Preston, Mayor of St. Thomas, to speak about downtown renewal.

Steve Wookey, City Councillor in St. Thomas to talk about active transportation in the community, and how bike paths and trails can connect with park-spaces.

Adrienne Jefferson, from City Parks Department and Forestry for the City.

Landscape architect on the project, Ron Koudys.

Andrew Gunn, from Andrew Gunn Consulting and the Young and Free Press.

Daniel Kharlas, Exar Studios, Engage ARt App (Augmented Reality!)

Civics, outdoor recreation, social work, landscape architecture and horticulture.

Brain in Bloom"Brain in Bloom," is a large-scale mural done on the side of the St.Thomas Public Library for the "Track to the Future" project. This piece illustrates the creative possibilities of collaboration within the community. Artist: Meaghan Claire Kehoe

New Park and Murals in St. Thomas — Young and Free PressOn Thursday, June 11th, our team at young & free press announced an extraordinary donation of $750,000 from the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell to the City of St. Thomas.

Over the past year, my team has arranged roughly $3M in donations from the Estate of Donna Bushell to support a series of community projects in St. Thomas and Elgin County, including the 'Track to the Future' mural project, a new event venue at Springwater Conservation Area, enhancements to the St. Thomas Elevated Park, and many more. I manage this through my consulting firm, which features five teenage employees who inform the direction of our projects and drive our in-house media outlet, young & free press - Andrew Gunn

Engage ARt

Download the App, get started! We want student feedback and ideas for St. Thomas and surrounding areas.

Prompting Questions

What is the difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality?

How will the user interact with the space?

What is the user's perspective? Sitting? Standing?

Create a storyboard for your design.

What are the measurements of the space?

What are their goal points?

What elements do you need to create an experience?

How can we play with space?