Springwater turns to county for help with park

By Laurie Watt Barrie Advance Dec 04, 2012 

SPRINGWATER – Springwater Township is turning to Simcoe County to help keep Springwater Provincial Park an active public space.

A Wednesday meeting between Springwater Mayor Linda Collins, a senior Ministry of Natural Resources advisor and two citizens groups didn’t yield much hope in terms of the province changing its mind.

In September, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced the park, along with nine others, would close March 31. It’s billed as a bid to save $7.1 million per year in operational costs and future capital costs of $12.3 million. 

But a deal has been struck to keep two northern parks open, said Collins – something that’s not being considered for Simcoe County.

The advisor “alluded to two parks in the north,” remaining operational “because of the distance between campsites in the northern areas being over 700 kilometres,” Collins said. “In Springwater, we have two parks within 50 kilometres  – Bass Lake and Earl Rowe.

“They struck a deal, a partnership with the local municipalities, which will cover all net losses over the next two years. It’s like a two-year partnership that will keep the park open.”

Springwater Park Citizens’ Coalition spokesperson Les Stewart agreed the meeting offered little hope.

“There was nothing other than ‘It’s closing. Get used to it,’” said Stewart. “It was so severe.”

Closing Springwater Park means there’ll be no maintenance – that is, no garbage collection, washroom cleaning and landscaping ¬– and the injured and rescued wildlife including bears, wolves, hawks and swans will be moved. 

The land, however, is protected by legislation, but washrooms and playgrounds will be taken out of commission.

Collins said it has been difficult to determine exactly how much Springwater Park loses each year. In the meeting, the MNR said the operational costs are $250,000 per year, but did not provide details on gate receipts.

“Not all the answers are there,” Collins said, adding she’s talking with the county to come up with a plan to prevent the site from becoming overgrown, unsafe and unusable.

“Our only hope of partnership is with the County of Simcoe. They’re in the business of managing large tracts of land. We will continue to work with the county and to get more answers from the MNR. If a partnership plan comes from that, that’s our hope.”