Des Newman WhitBEE Park

Current Update

Des Newman WhitBEE Park is now complete and open to the public.

Additional Park Information

The park will be the largest park investment in the Town’s history, including design features like:

• A fitness area (donated by Mattamy Homes)
• Lit multi-purpose field
• Multi-skills court with an additional basketball net
• Half-court basketball
• Four pickleball courts
• Bee themed senior and junior playground areas
• Fun ball net
• Sand play area
• Splash pad area
• A honeycomb inspired hexagon-shaped shade shelter
• A walking trail with bench rest areas
• Native plantings to support pollinator species

We look forward to welcoming you to your new park in the future and will continue to keep you updated on progress on this page.

Park Design

The revised park plan is now available to view here. The new design outlines the overall park design, a pickleball and basketball area, splash pad, exercise equipment area and playground designs, including a bee-themed playground rendering – as requested by the community.

In response to the community's desire and Council direction for a honeybee and pollinator themed park, the following elements are being incorporated into the design:

• Plants to attract native pollinator species;
• A honeycomb inspired hexagon-shaped shade shelter with a bee ornamentation;
• The playground incorporates yellow and black tones with bee and honeycomb details throughout, a large bee climber, bees cut-outs at the playground, roofs with floral details and honeycomb climbers.
• The splash pad design integrates flowers and nature-inspired elements that speak to the pollinator/bee theme.
• An interpretive sign shaped as a stop sign will be installed beside the sand play area to outline the inspiration for the bee theme for the park, and the neighbourhood’s story of the bee swarm that was found nearby.

Planning a Park

The Town has four different Park classifications including Town, District, Local and Parkette; all of which serve a different function and contain different park elements and amenities.

• A Town Park has major facilities and contains community centres, arenas, swimming pools and lighted athletic fields and is intended to serve the recreational needs of the whole community.
• A District Park such this is designed to serve the recreational needs of a larger neighbourhood or series of neighbourhoods. They are for primarily active recreational uses including lighted athletic fields, playgrounds, courts and parking areas. Various sport user groups rely on District Parks to undertake the various sports programming for youth minor sports across the community.
• Local Parks and Parkettes are intended to serve the recreational needs of the immediate neighbourhood for active and passive recreational uses. Local Parks contain sports fields, playgrounds, courts and walkways. Smaller Parkettes normally contain playgrounds, seating areas and walkways.

The Town's Official Plan and several Council approved guiding documents help direct the development of our parks. These include the Culture, Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan (CPROS) and the Sports Facility Strategy (SFS). Both of these studies account for trends, demographics, current inventory and service levels. The SFS determined that the Town lacked a multi-use field for rugby and soccer and also identified the need for pickleball courts; currently one of the fastest-growing activities.

Have additional questions about this project? Email Jill Stanton, Landscape Architect at stantonj@whitby.ca.