Minor ball asked to relocate from East Ward Park as Town of St. Marys looks to take ownership

Pictured is East Ward Park, formerly the site of three of St. Marys’ oldest settler cemeteries, as it appears today.

By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As the town works to take ownership of the properties known collectively today as East Ward Park, the land’s former purpose as three of the town’s earliest settler cemeteries is coming back to haunt current park users.

East Ward Park, once known as the Elgin Street Cemeteries or The Old Cemetery, has long been registered as three separate parcels, with St. Marys’ Anglican, Presbyterian United and Wesleyan Methodist churches each owning a parcel. Now, as the town works to take ownership of the land, staff brought in the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), a government-delegated authority and not-for-profit corporation administering provisions of the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act.

As part of the process for taking ownership of the properties, the town had to inform BAO that the land was being used for active recreational purposes, including St. Marys Minor Baseball’s use of the two small ball diamonds at the park and the children’s play structure. BAO then opted to inspect the site and notified the town that “active use of a cemetery is in violation of the ‘quiet dignity’ the souls resting at the property are legally expected to enjoy.”

“We will not be able to confirm the specific implications to the cemetery lands at East Ward Park until we receive our direction from the BAO,” town CAO Brent Kittmer told the Independent. “However, during the BAO inspection, we were advised to do what we could to relocate active uses from the cemetery as soon as we could, which is why minor baseball was relocated to Milt Dunnell Field. At the moment, we are proceeding with the assumption that the baseball diamonds and the playground will physically need to be removed, and that no further active uses will be permitted in the park going forward (including) sports, hosting of events, etc.

“We won’t be able to fully develop our plans for the cemetery lands until we have received the BAO direction and secured ownership of the land from the three churches. After that, what we would like to know is what constitutes a ‘passive’ use. If amenities like trails, seating areas, etc. fit the definition, I could reasonably foresee the town coming up with a masterplan to add these types of amenities to the property over the coming years.”

For now, however, the current users of East Ward Park will need to relocate to other parks in town, including St. Marys Minor Baseball, which has used the two ball diamonds at the park for its under-five and under-seven divisions. Dan Murrell, president of St. Mary minor ball, says the move won’t cause too much of a disruption and noted he appreciates the town’s support in relocating the two divisions to Milt Dunnell Field.

“The move to Milt Dunnell Field will only affect a couple weeks of our age groups that play at East Ward Park, and we have appreciated the town’s support in facilitating this transition. Our primary focus is ensuring that our young players continue to have a safe and enjoyable environment to play and develop their skills,” Murrell said, noting the East Ward Park diamonds had been well-suited for the organization’s younger players.

“The Milt Dunnell diamonds are suitable for our needs in the short term for this age group. We are grateful for the town’s assistance in making this transition as seamless as possible.”

When reached for comment by the Independent, BAO manager of communications David Brazeau said the BAO thanks the town for alerting the regulatory organization to the history of East Ward Park and it is working with the municipality on restoring the land to its intended purpose as a cemetery.

“As the regulator, we have no further comment on this matter while we work with the municipality,” Brazeau said.

Mayor Al Strathdee also offered his apologies to St. Marys Minor Baseball and the public for any inconveniences resulting from this process.

“We are working with the BAO to become compliant with the regulations and respect the provisions of the Ontario Cemetery Act. We will have more information regarding plans in the near future,” Strathdee said.

Information contained within this article was presented to town council at its regular meeting July 22, which happened after the St. Marys Independent went to press. Any updates or agreed-upon actions from that meeting will be reported on in next week’s edition of the Independent.

With land set aside for the settler cemetery as early as the late 1840s, it was left to fall into disrepair by as early as 1857. By the 1880s, the three protestant cemeteries were in trouble; after three decades of burials, they were running out of space. Through the early 1880s, town council formed yearly committees to study the situation and called for the establishment of a new cemetery.

The cemeteries were ordered closed on Dec. 31, 1885, and council decided a new cemetery would be owned and operated by the municipality. That new cemetery was ultimately established on farmland owned by the Guest family, adjacent to the Catholic cemetery at Cain Street. The cost of 23 acres for a new cemetery was $3,500 and council held a bylaw referendum to approve that expenditure.

Meanwhile, The Old Cemetery was established as parkland, but for a long time, neither the churches that owned the property or the town maintained it. Over the next 80 years, gravestones for some of the town’s earliest settlers with names like Hutton, Iredale, Guest, Lancaster, McLarty, McVannell, Birtch, Falconer and more were frequently vandalized, stolen or left in piles.

It wasn’t until the 1960s when local service clubs and the town’s recreation department pulled together to clean up The Old Cemetery and turn it into a children’s play area that included playground equipment, benches and two small ball diamonds.