Kingston’s Richardson Beach revitalization project continues to take shape

Despite the arrival of winter and the cold temperatures, the Richardson Beach revitalization project in Kingston continues.

The proposed work includes better gathering spaces, access to the water and shoreline improvements. It was quiet down on the beachfront Sunday with no work underway today. But projects are moving forward.

“There’s actually two projects running simultaneously,” says Parks and Shoreline Manager Neal Unsworth. “The one large civil and landscape project is the beach renovation and all the shore wall works and pathways and staircases that get you down to the water edge. And then there is a second project running in parallel and that’s the renovation of the actual beach house interior.”

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Both are slated for completion later this year and are part of the city’s waterfront master plan. Meanwhile the stretch between the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour site and Lake Ontario Park is now getting more than it’s share of use.

“I think that there are certain parts of our waterfront that have a lot of history and are really well used”, says Unsworth. “So I think we have to be thoughtful when we renovate them.”

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Despite the cold, rainy and windy conditions on Sunday, plenty of people were using the new, improved pathway.

“Honestly we were happy to walk on it before, we were happy to walk on it no matter what”, says pathway user Eva Perkey. “We moved here to be near the water, but for sure the fact that it’s wider means more people can walk on it and it’s more accessible for more people and that’s a good thing.”

“It’s much more accessible for people using walkers or wheelchairs. That’s been a huge improvement,” says Andrew McCann, another pathway user. “Some of the best investments that the city has made is these outdoor amenities — the park, the trail, market square downtown, which again is used by a cross section of people. And I think that’s the case here as well you’ve got people from all backgrounds, all walks of life sharing the space. It’s really lovely.”

Unsworth says that funding help from the federal government has allowed for these projects to get done efficiently and at a very high level.

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“I think that we can deliver nice quality infrastructure and places that will be beautiful for people to enjoy and we’ve had good success”, says Unsworth. “We do engage good designers and good contractors. So I think it’s just a matter of time in finding the capacity and the time to get them all done.”