Burlington cancels summer programs, facility rentals due to coronavirus pandemic

Burlington is cancelling all city-run summer programs in keeping with provincial orders.

That includes summer camps, recreation programs, swimming and skating drop-ins and festivals and events.

As well, all facility rentals through Sept. 7 are cancelled in Burlington, including arenas, pools, community centres, schools and sports fields.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward says all such programs and venues are settings in which they “can’t manage the numbers and keep people safe and healthy.”

The city estimates that it will take four to six weeks for staff process the cancellations, adding that residents who paid for programs and facility rentals using a credit card will be refunded to that same credit card, if possible, and all other payment methods will receive a credit to their recreation accounts.

Some of Burlington’s outdoor recreational areas will soon be back in public use where physical-distancing guidelines can be managed.

Meed Ward indicated on Tuesday morning that leash-free dog parks will be reopening by Friday and Burlington’s city-run Tyandaga Golf Course will open on Saturday, May 23.

Conservation Halton is reopening five parks on Friday — Crawford Lake, Hilton Falls, Rattlesnake Point, Mount Nemo and Kelso Summit — and using a reservation system to manage numbers.

Trails will be available for hiking and biking by pre-reserved visits only, but facilities such as washrooms, outhouses and visitor centres will remain closed.

Meed Ward says the key message is that “where any program or facility has reopened, it’s not business as usual, we’re not going back to the way it was, but if we can put those measures in place to keep people safe and maintain physical distance, we will open.”

In Hamilton, the Bayfront Park boat launch reopened for public use over the Victoria Day long weekend, and the locks were removed from leash-free dog parks on Tuesday morning.

The city-operated King’s Forest Golf Course will reopen on Wednesday, followed by Chedoke Golf Course later in the week.