Hampton Park (Ottawa)

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A recreational path in Hampton Park.

Hampton Park is a park and neighbouring community in Ottawa, Ontario that lies to the North of the Queensway. It was first developed in 1910 by J.C. Brennan who shares his name with Brennan Avenue which is a residential street in the area. The neighbourhood is full of youth and lies quite near Hampton Park Plaza and Richmond Road.

Many streets in the Hampton Park neighbourhood are named for upper-class neighbourhoods of London, including Kensington, Picadilly, Mayfair and Windsor.

The park itself has existed in Ottawa's west end for almost 100 years. The area was purchased by the Federal District Commission (now the National Capital Commission) in 1927. The park is several blocks in length and has a flat grassy area with benches as well as a wooded area with paths which is mainly used by people walking their dogs.

The area of the park just north of the Queensway contains a basketball court, two baseball diamonds, a seasonal outdoor swimming pool, a playground, swings and change room facilities.

Hampton Park has traditionally been the site of underage drinking for many years. This may be because of Hampton Park's proximity to the LCBO at Hampton Park Plaza as well as the lack of lighting and surveillance of the park after dark. The smoking of marijuana is also not an uncommon sight in the park. Street-affected people (homeless, vagrants, the poor) also commonly use the park after dark to drink and socialize.

[edit] Queensway expansion and Hampton Park

Hampton Park is notable for being the construction site for the Island Park bridge replacement project that occurred during the Summer of 2007.

In recent years there has been mounting pressure from the Ontario provincial government to expand the Queensway and make it more efficient. This led to a proposal by the National Capital Commision to build a new offramp on the west side of Island Park drive. The proposed offramp would have cut through part of the wooded area north of the Queensway and would have linked Island Park Drive with Merivale Road via a roundabout.

After months of pressure from the Island Park community the plan was eventually scrapped.