Council to consider naming recommendation for new City Community Centre and Park

BRANTFORD, ON – At their Committee of the Whole meeting tomorrow, June 3, 2025, Brantford City Council will consider City staff and the Ward 1 Councillors’ recommendation to name Brantford’s newest community centre and park after Blanche E. Williams, in recognition of the Grand Erie District School Board’s (GEDSB) choice to name the new elementary school in her honour.

Blanche E. Williams was a Brantford woman who played a pioneering role in breaking down racial barriers in education more than 130 years ago. In the 1880s, Blanche E. Williams made national headlines as one of the first Black women in Canada to attend university with the same privileges as white students. She studied locally at the public institution now known as Brantford Collegiate Institute before being accepted to the University of Toronto.

The Blanche E. Williams Community Centre and Park name recommendation follows a public consultation campaign conducted earlier this spring to engage the community in the naming of the future Southwest Community Centre and Park. The conclusion of the public engagement campaign coincided with GEDSB’s announcement that the new school adjacent to the community centre and park will be named in honour of Blanche E. Williams.

Ward 1 Councillors Rose Sicoli and Michael Sullivan, along with City of Brantford staff, agree that the school board’s decision is a strong and thoughtful choice and aligning the name of the community centre and park with the elementary school further strengthens the City’s commitment to equity, education and historical recognition. The naming alignment will also ensure clarity for the public in locating, referencing, and securing bookings for the community centre and park once constructed.

The new state of the art community centre and park being constructed at 10 Strickland Avenue and 346 Shellard Lane is part of a joint initiative with the GEDSB and the Brantford Public Library, with amenities designed for shared use with the new elementary school and library. The community centre amenities will include:

• Access to two competitive tournament sized gymnasiums, capable of hosting basketball, volleyball, badminton and pickleball tournaments complete with bleachers that can accommodate up to 300 spectators
• Gender inclusive and barrier-free team change / locker rooms, complete with showers and a referee’s change room complete with a shower and washroom

• A community multi-purpose room with a teaching kitchen, a youth space, and an office, workspace and meeting room for recreational staff
• Gender inclusive public washrooms including universal and barrier-free washrooms

The new community park will include:

• A splash pad with shade structure
• Accessible playground with rubberized surfacing
• A regulation sized tournament cricket pitch and artificial turf soccer field
• A fully serviced cricket field house and soccer field house with change rooms, washrooms and a concession stand
• Five pickleball courts and two fully accessible courts
• A Skate Park
• A paved refrigerated multi-use court for all-season use (basketball and skating)
• A network of paved walking trails, a trail connection to the CN Rail Trail, and a boardwalk connection to McGuiness Drive
• Picnic and shade shelters

Construction of the new community centre and park began in September 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2026.