Tecumseh Wins Sustainability Award

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The Town of Tecumseh has been awarded the Wege Small Cities Sustainability Best Practices Award from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. The Award for Stormwater System Improvements in Lakewood Park.

“When we purchased the land for Lakewood Park we had a vision for what it could be for the Town,” said Gary McNamara, Mayor of Tecumseh. “Many people don’t realize the dual purpose the Park has. Here we have a major stormwater protection resource hidden in one of our beautiful parks. This award recognizes the work we have done to protect the environment, implement sustainable practices and demonstrate stewardship in everything we do.”

The Wege Small Cities Sustainability Best Practices Award recognizes a small Cities Initiative member city in Canada or the U.S. working to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence and improve the quality of the water resource for future generations.

The project submitted by the Town was ‘Lakewood Park and Stormwater System Improvements’. It resulted in the creation of a natural and sustainable stormwater management solution for Lake St. Clair within the boundaries of the Park. Lakewood is a naturalized park area that incorporated construction of a new stormwater pumping station, improvements to the existing shoreline, revitalization of approximately 70 acres of park land and construction of a 640 m natural stormwater channel. The end result is a unique place for the community that protects the surrounding area from overland flooding from the lake and during high volumes of rainfall.

“Lakewood Park is not just a jewel for the Town with respect to recreation opportunities and facilities,” said Paul Anthony, Director Parks and Recreation Services. “It serves double duty as a place to store excess water during high volume rain events as it is released in the surrounding ground and pumping station. This project allowed us to respond to the effects of climate change with a beautiful natural area that can be used year round.”

The award includes a $5,000 prize which will be used to fund dedicated benches along the multi-use trails in the park. Within the Park itself, the Town has also used grant funding to install a Disc Golf Course, Adult Exercise Equipment, a climbing rock and paved multi-use trails.