Closure of grassy area at Edmonton park leaves woman who led renovation efforts feeling ‘betrayed’

Tucked away near Mill Creek Ravine in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona neighbourhood is a little park that means a whole lot to residents of the area.

W.C. “Tubby” Bateman Park is beloved by the community, including Mildred Thill and her children when they were young.

It’s even fondly called “Mildred’s Park” by some because of Thill’s work to renew it, which led to a $200,000 fundraising push with neighbours more than 25 years ago.

“Now I’m just a neighbour. I’m the guardian of the park,” Thill told CityNews.

“This is a meeting place and a greeting place and a place where parents and families can get together and do stuff,” Thill said. “Kids need outdoor recreation.”

Much of the park’s flat grassy area is unusable because of underground utility upgrades that began in March 2023 by EPCOR. The Edmonton utility company says the work was part of a “multi-year infrastructure project to replace aging combined sewer infrastructure.”

EPCOR says all major construction at the location is now complete, and it plans to fully finish its work at the park by the end of the spring.

While some of the park, including the jungle gym and the swing sets, have reopened, fencing currently blocks off a whole section of the grassy area.

EPCOR tells CityNews the fencing is temporary and will remain in place until the City of Edmonton completes its inspections, and the newly installed sod takes root.

“This approach helps ensure the area is safe and in good condition before reopening,” EPCOR said in a statement.

But all in all, more than three years – and counting – have gone by with the community, which worked hard to make the park better, unable to fully use it.

“I feel like EPCOR has betrayed us and the city has betrayed us,” Thill said.

Thill says waiting three years to use a park is unacceptable. “The kids can’t even play on what crap they left behind,” the Old Strathcona resident said.

EPCOR says throughout the project it communicated with neighbours regularly “to advise them of project timelines and mitigate construction impacts where possible.”

Thill is hoping EPCOR can return the park to what it looked like before.

“We should be taking that fence down and we should be kicking that sod around and getting it flattened down properly,” she said.

EPCOR says it recognizes W.C. “Tubby” Bateman Park is an important public space and it appreciates the community’s patience.

-With files from Lauren Boothby