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PAGE HITCHCOCK WINS SOO SILVER Thursday, July 24, 2025
St. Marys Independent
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St. Marys Independent 36 Water St. S., St. Marys ON | 519.284.0041 | info@stmarysindependent.com | www.stmarysindy.com
Issue #1272
Thursday, July 24, 2025
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Minor ball asked to relocate from East Ward Park as Town of St. Marys looks to take ownership GALEN SIMMONS Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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FIELD OF DREAMS
(WENDY LAMOND PHOTO)
Pictured is East Ward Park, formerly the site of three of St. Marys’ oldest settler cemeteries, as it appears today.
Delays in Wellington and Victoria reconstruction project leave area residents frustrated GALEN SIMMONS Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Last week, the St. Marys Independent received a submission to our weekly Bravos and Boos section from a local resident frustrated over the impact delays in the final stages of the Wellington Steet and Victoria Street reconstruction project have had on their property and that of their neighbours. The Boo, published in this week’s paper, reads as follows:
“Boo to the town in regards to the construction project at Wellington and Victoria Street. This project has been going on for close to a year. Nothing has been done for weeks now. Everybody’s front yards are all torn up. One would think that for the amount of taxes we have to pay, that the town would at least show some respect and finish what was started. St. Marys residents take pride in our community and we expect nothing less from you.”
As the town works to take ownership of the properties known collectively today as East Ward Park, the land’s former purpose as three of the town’s earliest settler cemeteries is coming back to haunt current park users. East Ward Park, once known as the Elgin Street Cemeteries or The Old Cemetery, has long been registered as three separate parcels, with St. Marys’ Anglican, Presbyterian United and Wesleyan Methodist churches each owning a parcel. Now, as the town works to take ownership of the land, staff brought in the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), a government-delegated authority and not-forprofit corporation administering provisions of the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act. As part of the process for taking ownership of the properties, the town had to inform BAO that the land was being used for active recreational purposes, including St. Marys Minor Baseball’s use of the two small ball diamonds at the park and the children’s play structure. BAO then opted to inspect the site and notified the town that “active use of a cemetery is in violation of the ‘quiet dignity’ the souls resting at the property are legally expected to enjoy.” “We will not be able to confirm the specific implications to the cemetery lands at East Ward Park until we receive our direction from the BAO,” town CAO Brent Kittmer told the Independent. “However, during the BAO inspection, we were advised to do what we could to relocate active uses from the cemetery as soon as we could, which is why minor baseball was relocated to Milt Dunnell Field. At the moment, we are proceeding with the assump-
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