The net is expected to solve problems with cricket balls at Victoria Park

Cricket balls landing on Galt’s Victoria Park tennis courts have caused enough safety concerns that the city wants to install a 20-foot-high net line along the fence of one court to protect players from the hard, leather-bound balls. .

Since the pitches are at a lower elevation than the cricket ground, the current 10-foot fence often fails to keep cricket balls out.

Cambridge Cricket Club and the City of Cambridge have had an agreement since 1991 recognizing the shared use of the clubhouse and park with the Victoria Park Tennis Club.

The request is going before the city’s heritage advisory committee this week because the park is a protected heritage site within the Dickson Hill Heritage Conservation District.

HCD requires any changes to the park’s appearance to be approved.

The mesh system consists of aluminum uprights mounted on concrete footings and braided black mesh on a cable pulley system.

Staff is of the opinion that the proposed netting does not conflict with the provisions of the park’s original document or the principles of the Dickson Hill HCD plan, says a report going to committee this week.

“Given its relative transparency and location directly adjacent to the tennis courts, the net’s visual impact on the character of Victoria Park is minimal,” the report states. “The lower elevation of the park’s tennis courts and the cluster of trees at the top of the hill also minimizes the visual impact on the park’s views.”

In his report, the city’s senior heritage planner Jeremy Parsons writes that for much of the 19th century, Victoria Park was owned by William Dickson (1769-1846) and his son William Dickson Junior (1799-1877).

The Galt area, known locally as “Dickson’s Bush”, west of the Grand River remained undeveloped until the late 19th century.

The park itself was established in 1901 when Eugene Langdon Wilks (1855-1934) donated 28 acres to the city of Galt.

The city of Galt later purchased more acreage, expanding the size of the park.

Wilks was born in New York, the youngest of seven in a wealthy American family. After studying in England, Wilks came to Canada and bought land on the west side of the river, including part of his family’s property, where he built Langdon Hall, a well-known mansion completed in 1902.

“The original deed from Wilks to the City of Galt, dated June 11, 1901, contained several conditions regarding continued use of the property,” the report states.

“Under such regulations the land shall be maintained as a free and open public park, to be known as ‘Victoria Park,’ not to be sold, leased, fenced, and no entrance fee charged, and shall be left open and preserved as far as practicable in its natural wild and wooded state, except when required for driveways and paths.”