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Click on photo for larger image. 
Coldspring Valley intact (wooded area from top left of image to where it meets Cootes Drive toward the right side top of image) in 1957, west of Cootes Drive/McMaster University.

From 1958-1963 Coldspring Valley was a nature sanctuary operated by the Royal Botanical Gardens. McMaster purchased the property and filled in the ponds and floodplain of Ancaster Creek, moved the creek west in a man-made channel and built a parking lot adjacent to Cootes Paradise.

With over 1,000 empty parking spaces available for the main campus at the busiest moment of the week, there is room to restore the lost wetland.

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