Pauline Vanier Park is a public park in Ottawa's Riverside Park area, located on Harkness Avenue. It is named after

Pauline Vanier Pauline Vanier, PC, CC, DStJ (''née'' Archer; March 28, 1898 – March 23, 1991) was a Canadian humanitarian who was married to Georges Vanier. Her husband was one of Canada's first professional diplomats, Canada's first ambassador to France, ...

. The park was built in the early 1960s on what had been the Munro farm, next to neighbouring General Vanier Public School. The Riverside Park Community and Recreation Association organized fireworks displays for over twenty years until changes in safety legislation required its removal to a larger area. Sheldon Ridgeway, then an

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

firefighter, started the public activity. After a six-year gap, the fireworks display was moved to Mooney's Bay in 2015.

Facilities

The park has swings and play structures for children as well as a wading pool. The city of Ottawa operates and staffs the wading pool during the summer season. The pool is not fenced. It is filled during the day and supervised by lifeguards. In the evenings, the pool is drained prior to staff leaving. The park field house is used by the lifeguards as an office and to store supplies. The field house was one of six field houses built at the same time by the City of Ottawa in 1967. The park also has two baseball diamonds with back stops, and one t-ball diamond. In the winter, a temporary skating rink, with boards, is set up in the park. The field house is used as a change room for skaters. Volunteers from the Riverside Park Community and Recreation Association take care of the ice during the season. Pauline Vanier Park sign.jpg, Park sign. The park pavilion can be seen in the background, to the right. Pauline Vanier Park Pool Swings.jpg, Wading pool, with swings and other amenities in the background. Signparkbench.jpg, One of the benches bears a plaque thanking veterans, signed by former councilor Maria McRae.

References

External links

Riverside Park Community and Recreation Association
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