At Monday night's Community Services and Senior Programs committee meeting, the panel decided not to go forward with plans to build a senior center at the west end of the park across Lake Shore Boulevard from the Irish-American Club. The decision not to send senior center legislation to the full council body for approval was greeted with applause by many of the 100 residents in the audience, but Mayor Paul Oyaski did not think it was cause for celebration. The status quo must be changed. We This site may not be pleasant to this committee, but we need to make some decisions on the golf course, the senior center and Shore Cultural Centre. Most of council believed that Sims Park needs to be kept as it is.
Few communities can boast of having a lakefront park.
Oyaski said few people use Sims Park now, but councilwoman Beverly Valencic, one of the most outspoken critics of the Sims Park proposal, said it does get some use. They use Sims park for the beauty of the park. Councilwoman Fay Miller recalled when there was a proposal to turn Sims Park into a marina, the consensus was not to disturb the tranquillity of the park and she said the same beliefs should prevail now. Even if no one uses it, the fact is that this is a greenspace along the lake that few communities have. It's something that should remain as is and should not be developed.