Cowan Park reopening in Ayr after months of tornado restoration
Posted Apr 16, 2025 06:59:06 AM.
Last Updated Apr 16, 2025 10:37:09 AM.
After an EF2 tornado ripped through North Dumfries in Ayr and Wolverton in August 2024, businesses and residents alike were left to pick up the pieces from its over seven-kilometre trail of devastation.
Now, nearly eight months to the day after the tornado touched down, Cowan Park, one of the more impacted areas, is in the home stretch of its recovery efforts and set to reopen through the spring ahead of the summer.
It’s taken a slew of work to restore the beloved park back to its former glory, with a new report brought forward to the Township of North Dumfries council showing the extent of repairs needed.
Some of those primary steps included removing debris caused by the tornado, fixing the field lighting, replacing park furniture and soccer nets, as well as repairing the picnic pavilion and splash pad.
Total costs for the restoration totalled $331,438.96, but a majority of that was covered by insurance, with the township paying a $5,000 deductible towards it. The largest cost of those repairs was the replacement of the soccer net at almost $80,000 and repairs to the field lighting at almost $62,000.
While the park was one of the major areas impacted by the tornado, the local Home Hardware Building Centre was left in similar disarray.
“They’ve actually started working on the store,” Jeff Seydel, Franchise Owner for the local Home Hardware, said. “It’s taken a while to get permits and everything in place, and obviously having fun with insurance, but everything’s been going great now that things are starting to be rebuilt.”
One of the only aspects that was not able to be covered under insurance for Cowan Park was the trees and other natural assets. However, 18 have since been planted at the site, all of which were donated towards the recovery.
Like others throughout the community, the repairs needed to fully restore the Home Hardware have been fairly extensive, with a long road yet to go before it can reopen like Cowan Park.
“Shelves were actually all removed in order for the construction guys to go in and do what they have to do,” said Seydel. “The entire building is completely empty, it has to be even retiled. Then all the shelves have to be rebuilt, and then everything has to be merchandised on those shelves.”
“The township’s been really cooperative. They all really want us to be reopened, the whole community. Whenever we go into a grocery store, they’ll grab any one of my team and they’ll be saying, ‘When are you opening again?'”
With the tornado causing headaches for the entirety of the township, Seydel mentioned that one of the brighter aspects of the story has been the overwhelming show of support from the community, with everyone banding together to push through.
Now, for Cowan Park, it’s a countdown from spring into summer as portions of the park officially begin to reopen piece by piece.
The park’s playground is set to open during the third week of April, the soccer pitch, washrooms, and picnic pavilion are all expected to open throughout the first week of May, and the splash pad is currently pegged to open May 24, just before the summer heat rolls in.
