Twenty-seven years ago the Arnprior Lions Club put in a gazebo and paid for some drainage improvements at the Town’s Robert Simpson Park.
In 2026 the Lions celebrate their 80th Anniversary in the community, and are looking for a legacy project to commemorate the club’s establishment.
On Monday (October 23rd), Club members Bill Gardiner and Don Gourgeon presented Council with a proposal to partner with the Town on the completion of an Amphitheatre at Hydro Park as part of the Waterfront Master Plan projects.
Although the item is a component in the community’s Waterfront Master Plan, it would have to be moved up in the schedule to accommodate the Lions’ anniversary.
The Lions would like to see Hydro Park renos advanced by a couple of years.
Gardner says it would be ideal to rededicate the land as Lions Park, if possible.
The Lion’s Club would be pleased to contribute to this as a legacy project in celebration by investing about 150 thousand dollars in the amphitheatre structure.
It would be in the shape of an “A”, forty feet high and thirty-eight feet wide.
Connected pathways could resolve traffic problems negotiating Madawaska Boulevard.
Representatives passed a motion authorizing a Staff Report to explore the obstacles and possibilities for the proposal.
By Rick Stow