Kelowna Parks Challenge – Trip #24
This week, as part of my Kelowna Parks Challenge, I explored four parks in northeast Rutland. Two of them were neighbourhood parks and two of them were recreation parks. Altogether, I got a great sense of this neighbourhood, which lies on the border between suburban and agricultural landscapes.
Read on for my impressions and reflections!
The Trip
For this trip I walked roughly in a loop, starting and ending at Rutland Recreation Park. Each park I visited marked about a quarter of the trip.
This part of Rutland is very similar to the southern areas I visited on previous adventures, but there were small differences. Firstly, the developments were newer. In the south, I saw a lot of houses from the sixties and (mostly) seventies, but here I walked through blocks that had been developed in the nineties. Along with that, the frequency of duplexes seemed higher in the north.
Neighbourhood park design hadn’t changed much, however; as you will see.
Rutland Recreation Park
My first park of the day was one of the city’s three (soon to be four) major recreation parks. Just as with Parkinson Recreation Park and Mission Recreation Park, this park was large and stuffed full of recreational opportunities for the people of its urban centre.
In addition to the Rutland Sportsfields, which consist of four soccer fields and two softball fields, this park has the Rutland Dog Park, a large off-leash area; the Hartman Community Garden; a BMX park; the Rutland Arena; the YMCA, which has a swimming pool; the Boys and Girls Club; the Okanagan Gymnastics Centre; the Kelowna & District Safety Council Society and the Rutland Activity Centre.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There are two washrooms in this park. One is a washroom building in the centre of this park, closed between October and April. Additionally, there is a portable washroom by the entrance to the community garden and the dog park.
Dog Rules: Because it is taken up by playing fields, dogs are not allowed in most of this park, except on-leash, on interior paths. Dogs are allowed off-leash within the Rutland Dog Park on the north side of this park.
Sumac Park
Judging from the layout of the neighbourhood, this park is a symmetrical sibling to Wigglesworth Park, the other neighbourhood park on this week’s adventure. Both sit on the south side of Sumac Road, at opposite ends of their subdivision, and each also connects to the subdivision’s interior road.
This relatively large park has a good-sized lawn surrounded by a selection of trees. Unlike its sister, however, Sumac Park has a children’s playground.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because it is taken up by a playground and has no internal paths, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Edith Gay Ball Park
Located on the northern edge of suburban Rutland, this park is dedicated to baseball. A large park, it primarily comprises four baseball diamonds. All of its other features are in service to them.
There is a batting cage, washroom building, and two-storey fieldhouse, as well as a parking lot and picnic tables, and a children’s playground for restless little ones. The only feature that doesn’t appear related to baseball is the pair of pickleball courts tucked into the east side.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is a washroom building in the middle of this park. The washrooms are closed from October 15 to April 1.
Dog Rules: Dogs are allowed on-leash in this park; however, they are not allowed on the sports fields or near the playground.
Wigglesworth Park
As I mentioned before, this park appears to be the partner of Sumac Park. It is alike in almost every respect, except that it does not have a children’s playground. My guess is that making the innovative decision to include two neighbourhood parks in their subdivision, the developers concluded it only needed one playground.
Otherwise, this is a fine neighbourhood park. It has a large lawn, a picnic table, and several mature trees. Like Sumac Park, it provides a useful shortcut from the subdivision’s interior streets to the wider environs. Judging from the pawprints in the snow, many people take their dogs here to run around in violation of local bylaws, as is common.
Washrooms and Drinking Fountains: There is no drinking fountain in this park. There is no washroom in this park.
Dog Rules: Because it has no internal paths, dogs are not allowed in this park.
Reflections
Suburban Walks
Given my preference for walks in more natural environments, I have long disparaged walks in suburban areas. That attitude is beginning to change, however, since cutting them out just doesn’t seem worth it.
First of all, if a suburban environment is what surrounds you, you might find yourself unable to easily walk anywhere else. In that case, I am convinced it is better to discover what you can enjoy about that environment than to abandon walking.
Secondly, it is not true that suburbs are merely places to travel through in order to get to somewhere interesting. Some kinds of beauty can only be found in places like that. Chief among them, perhaps is the “theme and variations” effect, where the intensity of the aesthetic pleasure taken in an unexpected variation is heightened by contrast with the repetitive statements of the theme that preceded it. For example, consider how nifty it is to see a suburban house with a front yard decorated with something other than a grass lawn, or a house that is painted an unconventional colour, like neon pink.
Of course, it is always foolish to presume we will see nothing delightful or interesting on our walks, especially if you go somewhere you have never been before. Remember that each suburban lot represents somebody’s opportunity to show off their best yard design ideas. Even though many do not rise to this challenge, enough do to keep any suburban walk interesting.
Conclusions
I am always impressed when I look at the Kelowna Parks Challenge Map and see just how many areas I have covered already. With this week’s parks, I have seen just about three-quarters of Rutland, with only the northwest quadrant still to go.
It also felt good to see four parks this week, and thus to not fall farther behind the pace I need to successfully complete my challenge. Including this week, I have now seen one hundred and three of the two hundred and three Kelowna parks, in one hundred and ninety days, or 51% of the parks in 52% of the year.
I can’t wait to see where I will go next week!
