JARVIS—The little town of Jarvis has been on a roll lately. Now, a new community-backed project hopes to help the town thrive with a new splash pad and gathering place.
Jarvis has been in the spotlight in recent years, named Canada’s Kindest Community by Coca-Cola Canada in 2024 and named the Best Small Town out of 64 entrants in a Y108 competition last month.
Haldimand County has now agreed to progress plans on a new community space, with Haldimand Council committing to contribute up to $1.05 million – 35% of the anticipated budget for the project.
The decision follows a Community Partnership Program proposal submitted by the Jarvis Board of Trade in 2025, outlining an ambitious two-phase plan to replace the existing lawn bowling building and construct a splash pad within the adjacent park.
The project was announced to the public with fanfare at the 2025 Jarvis Light Up kick-off festivities on November 15, 2025.
“This endeavour is a reflection of the heart and soul of our community. Our community has a lot of home starts…. Those businesses, those trades, those companies are local. That is a reflection of the people that are standing behind a project like this that we hope to move forward,” said Lisa Nigh, co-founder of Jarvis Light Up and Board of Trade member.
A report on the funding noted that County staff have had preliminary discussions with the Jarvis Board of Trade, Jarvis Lions Club, Community Centre Board of Directors, and the Jarvis Park Committee on drafting a proposal that lays out the fundamentals of the project, including planning and construction specifications, fundraising, and operations.
“Jarvis is a small and mighty community, as I think you’re quite aware of,” said Nigh to the members of Council, indicating support for the project will be strong within the community.
She called the project an example of the fun and exciting things that have brought Jarvis together in recent years, from Light Up to the return of CornFest this year.
“This is a project that is focused primarily on inclusivity,” said Nigh. “We really hope that you can stand behind what we’ve started here as a foundation for something new and exciting regarding growth in our community.”
Councillor Patrick O’Neill pledged full support, but cautioned the team has a “heck of a fundraising initiative ahead of you.”
Community Programming and Partnerships Manager Katrina Schmitz confirmed, “The budget numbers (are) an estimate at this time, as the project is probably a couple years out from construction; splash pads typically are looking at $1.5 million in terms of cost.”
Luckily, the fundraising team is off to a great start, with a $50,000 donation from Coca-Cola Canada as a reward for winning the kindest community competition waiting in reserve.
Councillor Brad Adams asked if the County has additional funds stashed away that might help offset the 65% portion of the project that must be raised through community fundraising: “Do we budget for community projects and have money set aside to help out with these kinds of things or is it sometimes a surprise at the end of the year?”
General Manager of Financial Services Mark Merritt replied, “The unfortunate thing, as noted in the report, is we only put aside $150,000 a year (for CPP), which would only support approximate capital projects just over $400,000. It was never intended initially when this fund was set up for large scale, multi-million-dollar projects. So as outlined in the report, although we’re recommending funding this future project from the CPP reserve fund, there are insufficient funds. Frankly, we’re overcommitted at this point in time.”
He warned that phases 1 and 2 of the project combined will exceed several years’ worth of available CPP funding.
“The intent is we’ll bring something back – hopefully before the next budget cycle – about how we’re going to address the funding shortfalls within the CPP program,” said Merritt.
Councillor Debera McKeen asked about using Community Vibrancy Funding, allotted to each councillor to contribute to projects that benefit their ward.
“I’ve had a conversation with Mark Merritt about contributing community vibrancy funds in the amount of a half million dollars to this proposal,” said McKeen.
Merritt said that with the project likely several years out, there is no ability to bind future councils to vibrancy funding decisions made by the current members.
“Technically, the policy requires at the start of Council identifying projects for the four-year term and it can’t go beyond the term,” said Merritt.
With Council approval now in place, the fundraising effort through the Board of Trade can now begin.
Phase 1 will focus on the replacement of the building, with Phase 2 being the splash pad construction. Stay tuned to The Press for more details on this project as it continues to take shape.
