Former Iqaluit cemetery site set to become a park this fall

City of Iqaluit recreation director Amy Elgersma talks to city councillors about the new Road to Nowhere Park at a council meeting July 14. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)

The former Iqaluit cemetery site along the Road to Nowhere, in a file photo from the summer of 2010. The city abandoned work on the site that year after they discovered the rocky ground does not provide enough useable burial plots. (FILE PHOTO)

Iqaluit is finally making use of past work done at the abandoned cemetery site on the Road to Nowhere.

But instead of tombstones, Iqalungmiut can expect to see picnic benches and grills installed as part of a new Road to Nowhere Park.

At an Iqaluit city council meeting July 14, the city’s recreation director, Amy Elgersma, said the Iqaluit Rotary Club is teaming up with the city to create the park.

“This site was proposed originally as a cemetery, and then later abandoned as a cemetery,” Elgersma told councillors.

“Extensive work has been done to this site. Stonework pathways have been completed. The site is actually very beautiful,” Elgersma said.

The park would be developed at the end of August or the beginning of September.

“It’s in an ideal location for the park. It’s by the river. Many people enjoy this area for berry picking, hiking, jogging, dog walking, cross country skiing, or pass by it to go hunting or fishing,” Elgersma said.

The Rotary Club is kicking in approximately $20,000 for the project. The city has also applied for money from the Government of Nunavut’s economic development and transportation department’s tourism initiative and beautification program, Elgersma said.

The city is hoping to receive between $10,000 to $15,000 from the GN. The money will go toward equipment and garbage bins.

The park is a two-phase project. The first phase will see three picnic areas. Those areas will include benches and pedestal grills.

There will also be an additional six benches around the park area.

“Also the Rotary Club is offering the opportunity for the dedication of plaques to be installed on the picnic benches. And this could be purchased in memory of a loved one,” Elgersma said.

“Funds raised from that would go back to the park,” she said.

The second phase “could happen in the next year or two,” Elgersma said.

At that time, more picnic benches and picnic areas would be installed. And there could be a gazebo pavilion, as well as outhouses and improvements to the parking area.

All five councillors present at the meeting were in favour of the park. But two had concerns.

Coun. Joanasie Akumalik was concerned about the shooting range in the area.

“The shooting range is further down the road. So it’s much further away. This is the area before the river, where the bridge is,” Elgersma said.

Deputy mayor Romeyn Stevenson reassured Akumalik that the shooting range is “a good distance away.”

Coun. Noah Papatsie, a volunteer at the Nunavut Disabilities Makinnasuaqtit Society, asked whether the site would be accessible for disabled people.

“The site work that was done is actually quite phenomenal,” Elgersma responded.

“And there are trails, pathways leading up to the picnic areas. So the picnic area would accommodate a wheel chair, going up to the site.”