Secord South Park Final Concept

The City of Edmonton is developing a community park in the south section of the Secord neighbourhood, located along Secord Drive. The site is approximately five hectares (twelve acres) in size and will include an Edmonton Catholic School District elementary and junior high school. 

The scope of this project is to provide base-level park development such as sports fields, social gathering spaces, community linkages and landscaping. One unique feature of this park site is the presence of tree stands. It is our intention to retain the large tree stand due to the ecological benefits and educational opportunities that the tree stand provides. The park is tentatively scheduled for construction in 2023, subject to funding for construction being approved.

The project is currently in the Concept phase. The first phase of public engagement was held online on Engaged Edmonton in November 2021. The public was invited to share feedback on the draft concept plan and on the types of park amenities that will be a priority in the future as part of partner-led development. A summary of the feedback and how it was used to adjust the draft concept plan can be found in the What We Heard Report and in the information below.

The final concept plan shown above incorporates the following changes based on the feedback gathered from the first phase of public engagement:

• Re-alignment of the trail through the park to the edge of the tree stand and flat open space to connect with the shared use pathway to the north.
• Added a community garden placeholder near 93 Avenue.
• Moved the playground placeholder further north where it is away from 93 Avenue and closer to the school.
• Relocated the long jump placeholder to allow for adequate spacing between the soccer field and open space.

Two popular items requested in the first phase of public engagement were a recreation centre and dog park. Unfortunately, neither will be accommodated on this park site for the following reasons:

• Recreation centre: The Lewis Farms Recreation Centre is planned for the Rosenthal neighbourhood in proximity to this site, at the southeast corner of 92 Avenue and Rosenthal Way. 

• Dog park: Currently, there are no dog parks in proximity to this area of the city. The City of Edmonton’s Dogs in Open Spaces Strategy (2016) would support a fenced off-leash dog park on this type of park site, however, a number of constraints do not make it feasible for this site. The constraints include:

  • The scope of the project is a base-level development, as per the Urban Parks Management Plan (2006), and an off-leash dog park is not considered a base-level amenity.

  • At five acres in size, the park is considered too small to contain a school, supporting amenities for school operations and an adequately-sized fenced dog park.

  • The requirement for key base-level amenities such as walking paths, sports fields, benches, etc. to support the school operations are the priority programming.

  • The retention of the tree stand was supported by 91% of survey respondents as an important feature of this park site. The tree stand takes considerable programmable space and is considered a trade-off for other preferred amenities such as a dog park.

  • Despite this park site not being a viable option for a dog park, the feedback from this survey has highlighted the need and desire for a dog park in this area of the city.

We invite you to review the information on this page and share your thoughts on the two questions about the park’s final concept below before the end of the day on February 22. The input received will be considered by the project team to ADVISE the final concept plan where adjustments are possible. This will be the final phase of project public engagement. 

Visit edmonton.ca/secordsouthpark for project updates.