Arnold Park, Bells Corners, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Posted by: MAPSIT
N 45° 18.776 W 075° 49.481
18T E 435357 N 5018045
Green space in Bells Corners, Ottawa, Ontario, with a particular emphasis on soccer.
Waymark Code: WMKMRN
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 05/03/2014
Views: 9
Location: The entrance to Arnold Park, at the posted coordinates and close to the city's official address for the park, is located near the intersection of Arnold Drive and Ridgefield Crescent in Bells Corners, a small community situated within Ottawa's Greenbelt. The park derives its name from Arnold Drive, on which it fronts. There's no sign to indicate its presence, but residents are well aware of the park, if only because of the considerable noise from local soccer tournaments, which are visible from Arnold Drive. Arnold Park is included in Wikipedia's list of Ottawa parks (in the Bells Corners section) and is readily identified on Google Earth, Google Maps, and Street View.
Description: The entrance to the park serves primarily as a bit of green space, featuring a paved path between the residential community to the north, and the soccer and recreation space located further south, behind, i.e., to the east of, D. Aubrey Moodie Intermediate School on Moodie Drive. Besides the large fenced area devoted to soccer and other field sports, the park is spare, with no parking, no play structures, no picnic facilities, no buildings or shelters, relatively few trees, and no ornamentation of any sort. The main decorative features seem to consist of the signs that indicate various restrictions on the use of the space.
The park's primary attractions, beyond the large open field, are (1) small drainage watercourses, one of which, safely grated, plunges underground within the park, and, (2) in winter, on a western portion of the park, adjacent to Arnold Drive, a small informal ice rink unsuited to hockey, but very conducive to children learning to skate.
During the considerable periods that the large mowed area, one of the biggest such areas in Bells Corners, is not hosting soccer games, it supports a variety of other occasional activities. These range from golf, to throwing Frisbees and boomerangs, to Tai Chi. In the spring, it makes for a particularly popular, and safe, area for kite flying. The water flowing in the drainage courses provides a relatively safe "attractive nuisance" for local youngsters, giving them ample opportunities to build dams, catch minnows, and soak their shoes and clothing. The south side of the park connects with well-used hiking trails in Ottawa's Greenbelt.
Name: Arnold Park
Street Location: 46 Arnold Drive
Local Municipality: City of Ottawa
State/Province, etc.: Ontario
Country: Canada
Web Site: [Web Link]
Memorial/Commemoration: No
Date Established: Unknown
Picnic Facilities: None
Recreational Facilities: Soccer fields to the south
Monuments/Statues: None
Art (murals/sculpture, etc.): None
Fountains: None
Ponds/Lakes/Streams/Rivers/Beach: Drainage watercourses that flow during most of the year
Special Events: Soccer tournaments
Traditional Geocaches: None, but there are many geocaches in the Greenbelt area to the south of the Park.
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