WINDSOR, ONT. -- A $22.1 million project to and expand Windsor’s drinkable water storage capacity and redevelop George Avenue Park has been completed.
Officials unveiled the new George Avenue underground reservoir on Friday which adds 35 megalitres to Windsor’s storage capacity for potable water, the city says. This will ensure an abundant supply of safe and clean drinking water for Windsor residents.
“As Windsor experiences unprecedented growth, it is vital we expand and enhance municipal services that maintain the high quality of life that makes our community desirable,” said mayor Drew Dilkens. “That is exactly what the City of Windsor and Windsor Utilities Commission have achieved with the construction of the George Avenue reservoir and park. Together we have given new life to an old park and secured our supply of drinking water to meet the growing needs of our community for many years to come.”
The new reservoir is able to store about 14 Olympic-size swimming pools of water and is capable of supplying residential water usage for 150,000 people or about 60,000 homes per day, the city says.
Mayor Drew Dilkens along with Ward 5 Counc. Ed Sleiman, ENWIN Utilities president and CEO Helga Reidel and vice-president of water operations Gary Rossi unveiled the project that comes from a $20.9 million investment by the Windsor Utilities Commission (WUC) which is operated by ENWIN to ensure “Windsor meets or exceeds the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks’ water storage capacity requirements long into the future.”
The city says it previously had just one basin to store drinking water with a capacity of 70 megalitres at the Albert H. Weeks Water Treatment Plant.
With the George Avenue Reservoir addition, Windsor’s drinking water storage is bumped up 50 per cent and adds the security of a back-up reservoir in the case of an emergency.
WUC also contributed about $345,000 to the City of Windsor’s $1.2 million redevelopment of George Avenue Park, a 6.2-acre park area at the corner of Wyandotte Street East and George Avenue.
“The remarkable transformation of George Avenue Park has certainly made it worth the wait. It looks amazing and offers Ward 5 residents an inclusive and exciting new destination to play, exercise and relax in what is now one of Windsor’s most beautiful green spaces,” Sleiman said. “I commend the City of Windsor and Windsor Utilities Commission for working together to bring this vision of a revitalized park to reality.”
The revitalization of George Avenue Park includes the following additions:
- A new nature/wetland-themed playground
- 610 metres of concrete pathways
- Fenced, rubber-surface basketball court
- Shelter with two picnic tables
- 195 new trees
- 8 benches
- 14 lights
- 6 new catch basins for drainage improvements
- 16-spot asphalt parking lot
