Farrow Miracle Riverside Park breaks ground

A massive redevelopment of the old Riverside Arena site in Windsor's east end has broken ground. 

The Farrow Miracle Riverside Park will include a sports field, recreational pathway, and fully accessible playground. It will also be home to a relocated cenotaph which will honour Riverside's war heroes.

"We call this a field of dreams. This is truly a dream come true," said Bill Kell, chairperson of the minor baseball association.

The park is named after the late father of Rick Farrow, who donated $500,000 to the project. 

The Town of Amherstburg has had a miracle field since 2011. City council gave approval for the Riverside park in September 2017.

About $2.2 million has been invested into the project since fundraising efforts started.

"It's going to cost us, to finish [the park] completely the way we want about three million dollars," Kell said.

He added the park should be completed by the fall, but minor league baseball games won't begin until spring.

Contention over the cenotaph

The relocated cenotaph was a point of contention for a Windsor man who was angry about the city's decision to relocate it to the back of an elementary school parking lot back in 2016.

Kell said the Legion Branch 255 moved the cenotaph there because it was the "only space they had."

"It was one of the first things that we first looked at when building the park. Where will we be able to put this in a place of prominence at the park?" Kell said.

He added the cenotaph's move will be one of the final steps of the park's development.

"It is the last part of a concrete curving that will be done," he said.