Roos Island scheduled to reopen spring 2024

Anyone going for a walk in Victoria Park can’t help but notice the large barricades keeping people from accessing Roos Island currently. The park is a central location in downtown Kitchener for the community.

The barricades and fencing were put up in April to close off the island to the public. In the summer of 2022, a housing demonstration set up in on Roos Island, which soon after turned into an encampment.

Outreach workers connected people living on the island to alternative housing while staff for the City of Kitchener closed off the island’s bridge access. The island was originally scheduled by the city to reopen this past summer, but have changed the date to next year.

As of this week, one person is still residing on Roos Island.

In an email response to CityNews, staff at the City of Kitchener said, “Staff and outreach workers continue to work with this person to identify their needs and develop a plan.”

This week, large signs went up throughout Victoria Park, notifying the community that Roos Island will remain closed for the winter.

The signs read that the closure of Roos Island is due to infrastructure upgrades for the Heritage Bridge and Bandstand, as well as some landscaping work.

Charles Roman has lived in the area for over 40 years. He has fond memories of walking through Roos Island before it became blocked off from public use.

“I hope they do something so everyone can enjoy it again,” said Roman. “It costs a lot of money; they could have fixed the bridge for the money they spent on the fence.”

Roman adds that he hopes they reopen the island sooner rather than later as the current barrier is an eye sore for the community.

“It still is a big park; you can do everything but go on the island.”

The City is now eyeing the spring of 2024 for a phased reopening of Roos Island.

More information can be found at kitchener.ca/roosisland.