St. Mathew's House & Surrounding Parks
This project includes improvements around the Barton Village Area of Hamilton, ON supporting Birge Park, Birch Park and Woodland Park, plus a major renovation at St. Matthew’s House.
St. Matthews House is a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1967 by the local Anglican churches in inner-city Hamilton with a focus on caring for vulnerable populations in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
This project aligns with the Green Cities Foundation’s vision to help communities across Canada to improve green spaces in urban locations
Working together with our major sponsor RBC Insurance, as well as the Barton Village BIA, Beautiful Alleys, The City of Hamilton, The Golden Horseshoe Chapter of Landscape Ontario and the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association membership, this #GreenMyCity project created a natural landscape that will improve community health and well-being in the Barton Village Community.
Through this collective work, we are hoping to undertake a transformative project in this neighbourhood that will have a green legacy forever. This project has:
- Greened a part of the city that has more asphalt per capita than anywhere else
- Brought together community partners from a diverse array of groups such as parents and children, seniors and youth, neighbours and faith groups, experts and learners to have a positive impact on the environment and create a space to live, grow and play
- Remediated a brownfield that has sat idle for more than 50 years
- Given 80+ kids a natural-built playground in a deeply urbanized environment where access to green-space is limited
- Created spaces for growing food for vulnerable people
Brought a closer community presence to a street that is facing gentrification and urban renewal challenges
Alan White, Chair of the Green Cities Foundation, has been instrumental in leading this project alongside Project Manager Peter Guinane.
“We hope that by building projects like this across Canada, we will help educate the public and our politicians on the value of green spaces and the impacts to the community that they can provide – helping to mitigate climate change by cooling our cities, improving the mental health of the residents, filtering water and improving stormwater management, and providing cleaner air to breath.”
RBC Insurance is a registered trademark of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence