A ninja warrior course in Medway, a community movie theatre in Glen Cairn, and a outdoor piano for Market Lane are among the 14 city-funded projects Londoners picked to improve their neighbourhoods.
More than 4,900 people cast ballots online and in person earlier this month in London's first city-wide Neighbourhood Decision Making program.
For the project, the city was divided into five regions with each receiving an even split of $250,000 — $50,000 each. Londoners were asked to submit ideas for items that would spruce up their area of the city. Over 300 proposals were submitted with 148 deemed feasible by city staff and making it onto the ballot. Then, over a 24 hour period, people of all ages voted on which of the projects they felt best suited their neighbourhood.
The winners of that vote were revealed Thursday.
"We were so happy to see that over 4,900 Londoners turned out to vote,” said Lynne Livingstone, managing director of neighbourhood, children and fire services. “A special thank you to all residents who took the time to submit creative ideas to make their neighbourhoods great.”
Councillor Josh Morgan, who championed last year’s pilot project of the same name, also offered his thanks to all who took part.
"Congratulations to all of the winning ideas and a huge thank you to everyone who participated," Morgan said in a tweet announcing the winning submissions.
The 14 winning projects, listed below, will be implemented over the next year.
Neighbourhood Decision Making winning projects:
Northwest London
Ninja Warrior Course in Medway ($50,000)
Northeast London
Outdoor Ice Rink in Forest Hill Park ($2,300) Cedar Hollow Park Improvements ($30,000) Stoney Creek Nature Trails ($17,700)
Central London
Clay Mosaics along Dundas St. in Old East Village ($15,000) Planting Fruit Trees near Community Gardens, multiple locations ($4,000) Outdoor Piano in Market Lane ($1,000) Community Garden and Gathering Space at St. Andrew's United Church ($30,000)
Southwest London
Outdoor Education Centre at Byron Northview Public School ($30,000) Outdoor Ice Pad in Jorgenson Park ($6,000) Save the Bee Pollinator Garden Byron ($3,000) South London Canada Day in White Oaks ($11,000)
Southeast London
Natural Landscape Playground – Kiwanis Park ($35,000) Community Movie Theatre in Glen Cairn ($15,000)