To celebrate this grand opening of the playground, the Lions Club will be hosting a free BBQ from 1:30 pm – 4 pm. The Lions Club will have hotdogs, drinks, cupcakes and some cotton candy. Come out and enjoy!

The Lions Park has a long history of offering sport and leisure activities to residents of Kingsville.  It was shortly after 1950 when the Kingsville Lions Club purchased the property at 23 Mill Street and developed a park on the grounds.

Over the years, the park has been home to baseball diamonds with bleachers and floodlights, tennis courts, a basketball court, a wading pool and swings. Some residents may even remember gathering at the Lions Park for the annual fireworks display.

In later years, Lions built a meeting hall and when two major additions were added in 1984 and in the 1990’s, part of the park gave way for the expansions.  Many local families celebrated weddings at the newly renovated Lions Club.

And, for 65 years, the Lions Club ran a summer carnival here, with a midway, until the rides outgrew the space.

In 2019, Lions were eager to assist the Town in its three-phase park project, and quickly donated just under $3000 toward the planting of shade trees.

For phase two, Lions and the Town entered an agreement to provide the park with an all-inclusive playground.  In 2021-2022, Lions mounted the Play It Forward Campaign, which raised approximately $88,000.

In addition, the Lions Club was successful in obtaining a Federal (Canada Healthy Communities Initiative) grant of $25,000 for solid rubber surfacing, to make parts of the playground even more accessible for children of all abilities.

The Lions are grateful to all the Play It Forward donors, to the Windsor Essex Community Foundation, and also to the Town of Kingsville and town staff, in making this new inclusive playground a reality.

Images supplied by the Lions Club