Donated to the city in the early ‘70s, a small, unassuming woodland in Langford’s downtown core has gone unnoticed by most in the community – until now.
Buildings on Wren Place and Brock Avenue, leaving Porcher Park ‘landlocked’, have now been removed by the city, opening up the space to help transform it into a new urban oasis.
“You knew it was here and if you knew the right friends, you could sneak through a yard and you had this wonderful secret little place to enjoy, but the vast majority of public couldn't get in here,” said Mayor Scott Goodmanson at the park’s grand opening on Earth Day, April 22.
Now, Porcher Park offers a new natural wood playground, including an accessible merry-go-round, the city’s first community garden area and restored natural woodland – a place for residents to “come together to celebrate nature and community,” Goodmanson said.
“Let's make the most of this beautiful new green space and continue to work together to build a vibrant, resilient and sustainable Langford.”
The new community garden, managed by the Urban Food Resilience Initiatives Society (UFRIS), helps empower residents to grow fresh produce for their households and promote healthy living.
With many residents losing “at-home opportunities for growing food” because of downsizing and densified housing, the 30 plots will help households harvest fresh produce in an urban space, explained Mary Brooke, executive lead for UFRIS, at the event.
And demand for the plots has been overwhelming, says Broke. “I can tell you that over the last year and a bit of organizing, I've had endless emails of people saying ‘I've lost my garden space,’” she said.
In addition to the community garden, UFRIS will also develop educational and garden kit programs to help all householders grow food at home. “So it starts here, but we're spreading through the community,” Brooke said.
Plots will be assigned via a lottery system due to the number of applications. But before that can happen, the garden plots need to be built before the growing season starts officially on May 15.
“We welcome carpenters, soil suppliers, lumber suppliers and others to now help us quickly pull this garden together by early May,” said Brooke. "So, thank you in advance if you'll come forward with some of those services.”
Putting the playground through its paces at the grand opening were students from Ruth King Elementary – their screams of enjoyment often overshadowing local representatives attempting to speak at the event.
But that didn’t stop proud mom of two and Ruth King Parent Advisory Council representative Kelly-Jaymes Beck, telling the council they had “hit it out of the park” with the design of the new space.
“There’s this reverence that I feel when I'm here, this calmness, this serenity, this feel-good energy,” she said. “It's a reminder in our busy lives … to stop and just be with nature. This need is so necessary.”
Beck also celebrated the inclusion of accessible play equipment in the park, which will help children with disabilities make connections within the community, something she feels should be standard across all public spaces.
“It's so important to leave your homes and come to places like this and build those relationships,” she said. “They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to raise community, and that's why we're all here today to celebrate that moment.”
Porcher Park, located at 822 Wren Pl. can be accessed from both Wren Place and Brock Avenue.
For more information about the Urban Food Resilience Initiatives Society, visit: urbanfoodresilience.ca.
