We're planning to expand and improve the use of Upper Canada Park. Learn more about this exciting project below.

On this page:

  1. Project background
  2. What's included
  3. Community benefits
  4. About ball diamond lighting
  5. Timeline
  6. Project updates

Project background

Upper Canada Park was originally built in in the late 1970’s as a mix of baseball diamonds, soccer fields and other park uses. Over time, the park became focused on baseball by converting all fields into ball diamonds; however, the ball diamonds were limited in size and ineffectively laid out leading to a decline in use and quality.  

A master plan was created in 2016 to refresh the park, bring in new park amenities and maximize the ball diamonds' capacities. The first phase of this work happened in 2018 and 2019 when the park was re-built to create an efficient “wagon wheel” sportsfield layout and bring in new park activities like a full basketball court. A skate park was added in 2021. 

The second phase of development will take place in 2025 and 2026 to make final improvements to the park.

What's included

The current project represents the second phase of development, which includes: 

  • sportsfield lighting on the “wagon wheel” ball diamonds 
  • complete parking lot renovation and expansion 
  • public washrooms 
  • sports court expansion and lighting 
  • additional shade structures and seating 
  • permanent and larger waste receptacles 
  • operations building within the existing maintenance yard 
  • better park sign at the corner of Homer Watson Blvd. and Pioneer Dr. 

This project will expand the use of the ball diamonds, develop a parking facility to suit, and respond to improvements to the existing park features as their popularity grew – permanent washrooms, new half court, court lighting, and more seating and shade options. 

Drawing showing the construction plan for Upper Canada Park

Community benefits

The focus of Upper Canada Park by design are the ball diamonds. It is one of only a few parks that house three or more diamonds in one location, and the only one with five. It’s not just for sport use however. The park is meant to be used by everyone of all ages and abilities.  

These improvements will: 

  • maximize the use of the “wagon wheel” diamonds by lighting and extending play into the evenings, much needed support for the growth of local baseball organizations 
  • expand on popular amenities since their openings, namely the basketball court 
  • provide much needed seating and shade opportunities as all amenities and use have grown 
  • support accessible, permanent washroom needs for both the sport and park users 
  • support the success and growth of on-site food trucks 

 About ball diamond lighting

Upper Canada Park is the only park in Kitchener with five ball diamonds and the only location with four full-sized diamonds. Its renovations in 2019 gave us the spaces needed to meet the regional demand of all diamond sports. Lighting these fields will fulfill the intent of the park and continue to meet growing demand. As part of this project, only the four "wagon wheel" diamonds will be lit. The fifth diamond was designed and intended for community use only.

We are using the latest technology in sportsfield lighting for the ball diamonds to avoid disruption to surrounding properties. As of 2019, all new sportsfield and sport court lighting uses highly controlled, glare-free LED lamps. All light created by the sportsfields is contained well within the boundaries of the park. As a local example, RBJ Schlegel Park located at Huron Road and Fischer Hallman Blvd. uses modern LED technologies on the soccer fields and sports courts.  

We expect the diamonds will be lit consistently from Monday to Thursday between May and October. Weekend use will also be common during these times. All lighting will be shut off by 11 p.m. every night, following the requirements of our parks bylaw and consistent with the existing lighting at the Upper Canada Park skate park.

Timeline

The development will be built in two parts. The first will be the lighting of the diamonds, followed by the larger site improvements.  

  1. March 2025 to May 2025: Diamond lighting 
  2. September 2025 to June 2026: Larger site improvements 

This schedule done purposefully to avoid disruption of prime use during the summer months while accounting for the immediate growth in diamond sport popularity.

 Project updates

A live on-site camera will be installed beginning in September. Subscribe to this page to be notified when we add a link to the live camera.