By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on November 23, 2023.
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews Community garden plots located on Kipling Street will relocate to Crescent Heights to make way for a housing project, the city parks department announced Wednesday. That will mean however, tennis courts at Osborne Park will close next spring. Officials say the courts, located near the YMCA daycare on Seventh Avenue NE, are are underutilized and in need of upgrades. “This location was strategic as the current tennis court is nearing the end of its service life and boasts an established irrigation system for the gardens,” said parks planning manager Jamie McLeod. He called the plan a sustainable solution with minimal work required to convert the site to host above-ground planting boxes in an already fenced area. Plots are owned by the city but operated in partnership by the Community Food Connections Association. Land at the Kipling Community Garden, near the Canada Post sorting plant, was donated by the city to the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society in late 2022. It plans to build an apartment complex at the site. The parks department also announced that work at Jeffries Park, south of Osborne Park will soon begin toward creating a “multi-season playing surface.” 10