The Ghost of Coldspring Valley

RBG Trail Map of Coldspring Valley Trails laid over Lot M Parking

We have learned a lot about the history of Coldspring Valley in recent years. The desecration of this nature sanctuary belonging to the Royal Botanical Gardens as it was paved to create parking lots for McMaster University started in earnest in 1963, the year McMaster University purchased the land from the RBG.

The land was taken from the RBG under duress, as the RBG's Annual Report of 1962 reveals:

"Negotiations pertaining to...land requirements of McMaster University for its projected expansion programme, have caused much soul searching on the part of the Board of the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Board is well aware that it was not established by Provincial Statute in 1941 to witness the disintegration of this property. Indeed it is particularly sensitive about this at a time when governments at all levels are striving to amplify rather than reduce such holdings."

What we are highlighting here are the available hand drawn maps of the former trail system, unfortunately not to scale, which we have overlaid on a google map to get a rough idea of the extent of the trail system. Our goal now is to take a GPS unit and try our best to retrace the routes followed by Erigan Trail, Maria's Walk, Prospect Circuit, Transvalley Trail, and of course the creek hugging Coldspring Trail.

If you are interested in joining us, please contact me at dundastard[at]gmail[dot]com

Comments

Binkley's Pond, gone for parking

Jacob Binkley (1806-67), great grandson of Marx [Binkley], built the handsome stone house that still stands at 54 Sanders Blvd at the head of a ravine. The house was completed in 1847 and named Lakelet Vale, as it had a little spring-fed lake at the rear. Binkley's Pond, as it was known, was used for skating, fishing, and good times. It is now the Zone 6 parking lot at McMaster University on the west side of Cootes Drive. Loreen Jerome, The Way We Were "The House that Jacob Built" Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association of Resident Homeowners Inc. (AWWCA) http://www.awwca.ca/articles/ Skater's on Binkley's Pond circa 1917, now a McMaster parking lot

Where did the water go? Art action in Lot M Parking

West Campus Eco-Art Project A walking activity and site activation on McMaster’s West Campus. West Campus Eco-Art Project is a project that incorporates creative walking activities and an artistic site activation connected with the West Campus Redesign Initiative at McMaster University. The initiative provides opportunities for connecting with nature through an on-line informational video, walking excursions and creative activities that deepen knowledge and experience with place in all its complexities (social history, citizen science, ecology and diversity). Focusing on the Coldwater creek valley on McMaster’s West Campus, participants will learn about the history and unique features of the area and will be invited to then engage with the site through observation, sketching and stencil-making. Stencils will be used to paint text and image on the parking lot asphalt to delineate a blue line that marks an historic water route. The project is supported by the McMaster Museum of Art (

McMaster's Parking Problem: Next Level

I'm sharing a recent article published in the Dundas Star News about McMaster's plan to build a - get this - $17-million dollar parking structure. Seventeen million. Yes, $17,000,000.00 That's a lot of money to provide temporary shelter for vehicles of people who choose to drive to campus. We will be following this closely. Here's the article. Cootes Drive six-storey McMaster University parking garage under review Variances or amendment to zoning bylaw expected to permit parking structure Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News, Friday, March 5, 2021 Zoning bylaw variances, or amendments, could be required for a planned six-storey, 567-space McMaster University parking garage west of Cootes Drive, and north of Thorndale Crescent. University spokesperson Michelle Donavon said the $17-million structure on parking lot K at Westaway Road will help ongoing efforts to re-naturalize parts of the west campus, by moving some surface parking into the structure. “These plans will increa

RESTORE COOTES

Search This Blog