A 44-hectare (110-acre) property in northwest Oakville is set to become the town’s newest park.
The town has purchased the former Fogolars Country Club and surrounding property at 2026 Lower Base Line for $8.4 million to be used as a park.
Located within the town’s Natural Heritage System, the property consists of about 2.5 hectares (6 acres) of high, flat land, surrounded by wooded ravine lands.
It is crossed by a Hydro One corridor and a town road that is not open for public use. The East Sixteen Mile Creek also runs through the property.
The building on the site, used as a private Italian club for the last 40 years, is a 4,200 square-foot facility with a commercial kitchen, outdoor pool, change rooms, mini soccer field, bocce ball courts, playground and parking for 70 vehicles.
The town purchased the property in November, only a few weeks after the province opened up about 100 hectares of nearby land for future residential development.
Properties along Lower Base Line Road and Fourth Line, including lands that make up the Oakville Executive Golf Courses, are part of a provincially ordered expansion of Halton’s urban boundary.
A town press release says the new park will provide “excellent opportunities for education, special events, meetings, rental/programming space, and open space for passive and active recreation and leisure activities.”
“Council is pleased that we have been able to acquire this property to secure more natural space for residents to enjoy and to ensure that our community continues to thrive,” says Mayor Rob Burton.
It is also located near other publicly owned properties, including Glenorchy Conservation Park and 44 acres of existing town parkland at 1604 Lower Base Line.