Rehabilitation Scrapbook

We hope you enjoy this sampling of pictures illustrating the diversity of rehabilitation work undertaken by MAAP. These images represent a variety of sites from across the province that were rehabilitated to safer and more productive end-uses.

Rehabilitation to agricultural pasture:




Rehabilitation to agricultural crop:

Rehabilitation to Recreational Space - Kerncliffe Park:

MAAP has helped rehabilitate many hectares of land to recreational space. Rehabilitation efforts have helped convert abandoned aggregate pits and quarries to sites for future baseball diamonds, soccer fields, track and field facilities, as well as public parks and outdoor educational space.

In 1998, the City of Burlington approached MAAP to inquire about funding opportunities to help turn an abandoned quarry into a passive park. This 32.4 hectare site is located on the brow of the Niagara Escarpment and offers a spectacular view of the city and Lake Ontario. The quarry is included within a designated Environmentally Sensitive Area. Planners at the City were sensitive to the wonderful natural area already developing within this quarry and developed an appropriate Master Plan for this site aimed at highlighting some of the quarry's natural beauty.

MAAP undertook a portion of the rehabilitation work and created a stone amphitheatre using stone salvaged from the site. The stone was terraced to echo the backdrop of the escarpment face. The stone was also placed to accommodate pockets for planting of native prairie species. The larger picture of Kerncliff Park includes a Park Centre Area, numerous multi-purpose trails, boardwalks overlooking a developing wetland area and a wonderful place to enjoy nature within the city!

The Art of Rehabilitation

In attempting to look beyond the typical concepts of pit rehabilitation and try to create something more meaningful, MAAP partnered with internationally acclaimed artists Noel Harding and Ian Lazarus to incorporate a land-art component into the rehabilitation of an abandoned gravel pit in Wellington County that is owned by the Grand River Conservation Authority. The land-art component, entitled "Wind Would Weigh", contains several elements that are reminiscent of early settlement in the area and attests to the fact that rehabilitation can be creative and meaningful, and can accomplish several different goals.

In 1999, the artists developed the concept for this project in consultation with MAAP and the landowner. The main elements include an undulating laneway that traverses the centre of the site and winds its way through the site, passing through seasonally wet areas. The laneway is dotted with large stones meant to symbolize the difficult journey experienced by pioneers who settled Ontario's agricultural landscape. It also represents a playful juxtaposition to the straight, flat, long laneways that characterize most southern Ontario farm settlements.

The final design element - the windmill - was installed in 2001. It represents an easily identifiable landscape element. It is positioned at the end of the laneway making it visible from all areas of the site, but symbolically it can only be reached by successfully traversing the laneway. Reaching the windmill represents the end of the difficult journey experienced by early settlers.