Parking Perspective

West Campus parking (area mapped below includes lots K,L,M,N,O,P) previously belonged to the Royal Botanical Gardens and was used as hiking trails with trails around Binkley's Pond (now filled in and paved, Lot L) and along Ancaster Creek. The creek is still there, but the entire area is no longer recognizable as a natural area. Parking Lot M abuts the creek and runoff from the lots contaminates the water.

Just north of the parking, Ancaster Creek joins with Spencer Creek and flows into Cootes Paradise, Hamilton's largest and most important remaining wetland. McMaster's decision in the 1960s to turn this lush area of natural habitat into cheap and expansive parking lots is a decision which still has consequences for us today.

"Very few, if any, can express the views of the Royal Botanical Gardens, as can W.J. Lamoureux [RBG's Conservationist], in his recent review of the situation of taking over of the property of Cootes Paradise for the expansion of McMaster University….few know of the many people that enjoy the untouched and original places that the Royal Botanical Gardens preserve and maintain and it would be to the discredit of Hamilton and district if this area were ‘whittled away a little at a time’ as expressed by Mr. Lamoureux.” (Letter to Editor, Dundas Star, June 29, 1966).

McMaster has indeed "whittled away" an important wetland habitat, and, now that we are at last talking about this area, we have a chance to reverse historic mistakes so clear to us in hindsight. It's time to start whittling away parking. Below are the current parking numbers which will be returned to the higher total of 4,276 spaces once construction projects are completed.

I suggest that we have an opportunity to re-examine our priorities in 2012, and a choice to make: nature or parking? Can we reduce parking so we can expand and restore habitat and thus create healthier and more sustainable relationships between humans and the natural world? The answer seems obvious: of course we can.

The importance of Cootes Paradise to the local ecology cannot be understated, and a pressing need to enlarge the natural hydrology of the surrounding lands presents us a challenge today. How will we answer?

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Binkley's Pond, gone for parking

Jacob Binkley (1806-67), great grandson of Marx [Binkley], built the handsome stone house that still stands at 54 Sanders Blvd at the head of a ravine. The house was completed in 1847 and named Lakelet Vale, as it had a little spring-fed lake at the rear. Binkley's Pond, as it was known, was used for skating, fishing, and good times. It is now the Zone 6 parking lot at McMaster University on the west side of Cootes Drive. Loreen Jerome, The Way We Were "The House that Jacob Built" Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association of Resident Homeowners Inc. (AWWCA) http://www.awwca.ca/articles/ Skater's on Binkley's Pond circa 1917, now a McMaster parking lot

Stairs Connect Us: Please Sign A Petition

A group of residents in the University Gardens neighbourhood are seeking improved connections for active transportation. The neighbourhood sits on a plateau above McMaster's west campus parking lots. A path through a wooded section between Grant Boulevard and McMaster's parking lot "P" is the shortest and most direct route that connects hikers, and commuters walking or cycling, but it is on the side of a hill that becomes treacherous in winter. At the bottom of the hill, a concrete bridge spans the narrow Ancaster Creek that is the dividing line between Hamilton's Ward 13 (Dundas) and Ward one's Ainslie Woods North neighbourhood. SIGN THE PETITION HERE Existing stairs were removed by the Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) with no plans for replacement. Area residents have started a petition to request a replacement set of stairs and will use the petition as support when they go to the HCA Board meeting in early June. The text of the petition reads: The Ham...

Where did the water go? Art action in Lot M Parking

West Campus Eco-Art Project A walking activity and site activation on McMaster’s West Campus. West Campus Eco-Art Project is a project that incorporates creative walking activities and an artistic site activation connected with the West Campus Redesign Initiative at McMaster University. The initiative provides opportunities for connecting with nature through an on-line informational video, walking excursions and creative activities that deepen knowledge and experience with place in all its complexities (social history, citizen science, ecology and diversity). Focusing on the Coldwater creek valley on McMaster’s West Campus, participants will learn about the history and unique features of the area and will be invited to then engage with the site through observation, sketching and stencil-making. Stencils will be used to paint text and image on the parking lot asphalt to delineate a blue line that marks an historic water route. The project is supported by the McMas...

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