written and researched by Deb Ferguson The Mary Allen neighbourhood had waited years for the development of the southern end of the land at the corner of Allen and Willow streets. Improvements had been made at the other end of the plot, closer to the train tracks, but residents were becoming cynical and thinking that maybe this change would never happen (see The Making of Mary Allen Park, Part 1 ). Click to enlarge. In 2012, the corner of Allen and Willow streets, adjacent to the first phase of Mary Allen Park. In 2010, when Melissa Durrell was knocking on doors during her bid for the job of Waterloo City Councillor for Ward 7, the question she heard most often was, “When can we get our new park?” So, once she was elected, one of her first priorities was to get started on the Mary Allen Park expansion. Politics, Public Input, and...yup, Parking (Again!) Councillor Durrell discovered that the Catholic School Board was interested in selling the land to the City, but it insisted that t
Sharing stories and histories
of the Mary Allen neighbourhood
in the heart of Waterloo, Ontario