Grenville Park “kids” celebrate unique neighbourhood

Kingston’s first housing co-op – begun in 1946 – is site of 2-day reunion for children from founding
families.
More than 70 Kingston “kids” who grew up in the city’s first co-operative housing community will
gather in their old neighbourhood of Grenville Park this weekend, to reconnect with each other and
meet current residents who are continuing the communal traditions.
Incorporated in 1946 as the Grenville Park Co-operative Housing Association (GPCHA), the unique
initiative grew out of a desire by four Kingston families to create the kind of “Garden City” community
proposed by UK urban planner, Ebenezer Howard. Recruiting other, like-minded citizens, they pooled
their resources and purchased a 66-acre farm two kilometres west of the city, in 1945.
Over the next decade, the co-op members converted those farm fields into a functioning subdivision,
complete with a skating rink, baseball diamond, tennis courts and numerous playgrounds. Labour was
often provided by the residents, many of whom built their own houses with help from their neighbours.
Last fall, several descendants of the original owners met for a nostalgic walking tour of the Park. They
decided to try and track down their long-ago Park friends to determine interest in a larger reunion.
“I had been thinking of an afternoon event – probably a potluck picnic like in the old days – but others
on our committee had bigger ideas,” says one of the reunion organizers, Sue Chamberlain. “Soon we
were talking about a weekend of events including historic walks in the Park, a treasure hunt, a
biodiversity plant tour, an evening meal with story telling, a slide show of old photos, some live music
and a trivia quiz. And now that’s all about to happen!” she adds, with fingers crossed that the weather
cooperates.
Locating former “kids” from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s – now in their fifties, sixties and seventies – was a
challenge, Sue reports. “After generating a list of the children of the original shareholders, we each
selected names of the people we were most familiar with, and began trying to locate them by email,
phone number, postal address, or internet profile. Parents’ obituaries were helpful in learning married
names of some of the girls. We became amateur detectives, investigating all possible leads. It was fun!”
The response, from across Canada the U.S. and UK, was overwhelming. Former Park kids shared old
photos and stories as they signed up to attend the reunion. Committee member Dave Axford – who
moved back into his original family home with wife, Maggie, to raise their own kids in the Park – reached
out to other current residents, as well. “There is a great deal of mutual respect and curiosity between
current and former Park members,” he says. “I have no doubt that the sharing of information, stories
and experiences will flow in both directions.”
“Many generations of Grenville Parkers would affirm that the ‘experiment’ has been an unqualified
success!” Dave adds.