King wins design award for Tasca Park

February 28, 2017 · 0 Comments

One of King’s newest parks was recently crowned with a provincial award for its innovative design.
Tasca Park in Nobleton was named the winner of Parks and Recreation Ontario’s PRO Award of Excellence for design (for a community under 30,000 residents).
“Our Award Review Committee, board members and staff, are extremely impressed with what is being done to advance parks and recreation services in your community,” said Bill Allen, president of Parks and Recreation Ontario.
King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini, said he was pleased with the news of the award.
“I know how much work staff and council put into making Tasca Park a premier destination,” Pellegrini said. “It’s nice to be recognized for the work we’re doing when it comes to making King such a great place to live. Even better, though, is being able to see the difference these improvements are making in the community.”
Tasca Park, located on Parkheights Trail, is more than 20 acres in size and features a splash pad, soccer field, basketball court, fully assessable playground, trails, a skate park and more.
David Boyd, councillor for Nobleton, says the park has become a huge part of the community in a very short time.
“It’s become an extremely popular destination for people, especially families with children,” said Boyd. “One of the best parts of my job as a councillor is seeing the enjoyment so many people get out of the park.”
Chris Fasciano, King’s director of Parks, Recreation and Culture, said a lot of thought went into the planning of the park. He said the initial driving force was the new housing development in the north part of Nobleton. The decision was made that, instead of building several smaller parkettes, a much larger community park would be built.
“We felt it was important to develop a park large enough so that new residents would have a place to go and build relationships,” Fasciano said. “We also saw it as forming a bridge connecting the existing community with the newest parts of Nobleton.
Once the overall concept of the park was decided on, staff next focused on what features to include in the park. Fasciano said staff held discussions with residents and the school board before finalizing the park’s features.
Some of those features include a full-size soccer pitch, playground area, naturalized playground, a shade structure, splash pad, basketball court, exercise equipment, skateboard park and an extensive naturalized area with several kilometres of walking and cycling trails.
The park got its name from Joe Tasca and family who have donated their time to the community in countless ways over the years and also since part of the park used to be part of the Tasca family farm.
The PRO award will be given to King staff at an event in Huntsville on March 30.