Letter to the Editor | Sudbury dot Com | Nov 27, 2025
- Anderson Farm For All
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
This letter to the Editor was published Thursday Nov 27, 2025
It’s time to make some decisions.
Like a mother hen, the City of Greater Sudbury has been sitting on $4M meant to improve life in Walden - a scant nest egg from the sale of Meatbird Park.
Replacing our community swimming hole was always going to be a daunting task. Meatbird is remembered fondly as a jewel of a public space. For decades it was the place to be on a summer day, then, in April 2021 it was gone - replaced only by a glimmer of hope.
After four years of work behind the scenes, we community volunteers are coming forward with a bold proposal: the Anderson Farm Recreation Project. This innovative plan builds on the heritage of the museum without marring it, and captures the cultural value of the site making it relevant and fun for people of all ages. At Anderson Farm hope glows brightly again!
The addition of unique recreational amenities, from exciting water play to performance spaces, will awaken Anderson Farm for the thousands of neighbors close by, and those who will come from all around specifically to visit.
Like the Farm itself, this new plan belongs to all of us, and it came from the community. It came directly from surveys, feedback submissions, open forums, and even a formal opinion poll - the most consultation ever for a project of this size. Yes it could have been faster for staff to spend the money on a cookie-cutter play structure with a generic splash pad on the side, but nothing out of city hall could combine the spirit of Meatbird Park with Lively’s great cultural and community hub.
And if the source of the project isn’t enough to inspire support, we are quick to add that these major improvements will serve to protect the Farm from budget cuts for generations.
The City of Greater Sudbury has constantly reminded us of the monetary limit of this project. Even as we work alongside them to share these plans, we are here to tell the Mayor and Council that the value of a world-class public space is certainly worth more than four million dollars and some change. Delivering on the potential of this project will require investment from the private sector, the municipality and beyond.
We call on the city to decide: that we are worthy of this investment. It’s not just compensation for the loss of something great, but for the promise of something great to come.
To the people of Walden, it is time for us to decide as well. We cannot remake the past, but neither can we miss this opportunity. We will not draw in this investment unless we raise our voices and demand it.
Help reclaim the glory of a summer day at Meatbird Park. Get behind the Anderson Farm Recreation Project. Visit us at AndersonFarmForAll.ca to learn more - and tell the City: Fund it! Build it!
Lively Recreation Project Advisory Panel
Mary Crowder, Laurie Dunn, Richard Eberhardt, Karen Makela, Kendra MacIssac, Stacy Paajanen, Christine Pothier
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