Another round of upgrades is being planned for a popular park on the west side of Saint John.

The Dominion Park Community Association has already started fundraising for the work.

Derek Chaisson, chair of the association, said the latest upgrades will involve a new playground and lookout area.

“The current playground is located in a position where it’s kind of in behind and off to the side of the parking lot/beach,” said Chaisson.

“Back in the 90s, there used to be a swing set up on the plateau in behind the current canteen location, and so we proposed to actually move the playground up to that area where you have clear lines of sight from the beach.”

The upgrades were driven by historic flooding at the park in 2018 and 2019 that destroyed its old canteen facility.

Phase one of the upgrades, which were completed last year, included a permanent and accessible canteen building, accessible washrooms, a Sunset Plaza, new picnic facilities, and improved beach access.

Chaisson said they have received a lot of positive feedback from park users since the initial upgrades were completed.

“It’s also bringing new people into our area to check out Dominion Park, which is really exciting as well,” he said.

The City of Saint John has already committed $450,000 toward the project, provided they also get the same amount from other levels of government.

Chaisson said his group wants to match the city’s contribution and then go to the provincial and federal governments to get matching funding.

“That would bring us, and it’s a bit of a stretch goal, to $1.8 million. We think we can get the project done for $1.3 million to $1.5 million,” he said.

The association has until September to fundraise. From there, a final scope of work will be developed and run by the community before tenders are issued.

Chaisson said he hopes construction can start in the late winter or early spring of 2025 and be finished by mid-summer.

You can make a donation to the project through The Community Foundation.