Click HERE for Part 1 and HERE for Part 2

Welcome to our People of the Parks blog series. This four-part series is a companion to “You are Here,” our temporary exhibit all about mapping St. Catharines, on at the museum through the end of 2026. 

The City of St. Catharines has over 100 public parks. The first one came in 1888 with the opening of Montebello Park, designed by superstar American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The greenspace at Montebello had already been used for public enjoyment in an unofficial capacity since shortly after the unexpected death of its former owner, William Hamilton Merritt Jr, in 1860.  

The late 19^th century is considered the first boom era for public park building. This was especially the case in increasingly industrialized and urbanized North American cities where planned greenspaces were introduced as a public health initiative; an antidote for the distress caused by living away from nature. Given this trend, the Montebello’s central location, and the public’s enjoyment of the space, it was only natural for the municipal government to purchase this lot and seal the deal. 

And the name? The City did not have to worry about coming up with a moniker for this space, because it had already been dubbed “Montebello” by the late William Hamilton Merritt Jr. Montebello is Spanish for “beautiful mountain” and was inspired by time William spent in Europe for his education. A similar process happened with other early city parks, emerging naturally from already communal spaces and inheriting a pre-established name – think Lakeside Park or Oakhill Park.  

But as the 20^th century progressed and more and more new parks were established from scratch, names had to be chosen. Several dozen St. Catharines parks are named after people, but over time public memory of that person can fade and be lost. In this blog series, I will be exploring twelve of these “People of the Parks”, sharing biographical information along with some history of the parks themselves. 

Each part of this blog series will explore parks located in a particular section of the City of St. Catharines. Rather than follow historical municipal boundaries, the city will be split into four equal parts with three parks in each. Readers can refer to the map below to orientate themselves. 

Part 3: Southwest 

Welcome to Part 3 of our four-part People of the Parks blog series! This week it’s all about the southwestern section of St. Catharines, which, for the purposes of this series, includes the downtown core and some of the city’s most historical neighbourhoods. The three parks this week will be very familiar spaces to most longtime St. Catharinites, but what about their namesakes? Read on to as we unpack the stories of Alex McKenzie Park, Hannelore Headley Chess Park, and Burgoyne Woods. 

Alex McKenzie Park 

Alex McKenzie Park is located in the same general area as, and shares some history with, Torosian Park which we explored in Part 1. Both parks are near Carlton and Ontario Streets and are linked to the area’s history as a working neighbourhood anchored on McKinnon Industries and a strong Armenian community. Torosian Park was established in a modern suburban development at a time of great transformation and was named, in part, to mark the area’s historical connection to family farming – a neighbourhood characteristic that was rapidly disappearing. Alex McKenzie Park, however, is a much older community space that emerged along with industry. This park is further south and is nestled right into a neighbourhood where generations of factory workers and trade unionists raised their families in modest homes.  

Alex McKenzie Park was built beginning in 1923 and was, for much of its history, without an official name. It was usually referred to as either City Sports Park or Thomas St. Park. The park was built not as a casual greenspace or nature reserve, but as a sports hub. For the first few decades, the park was probably this city’s number one spot for community sports leagues, especially baseball and lacrosse. While other larger parks and more modern facilities have since been built in other parts of St. Catharines, this park continues to cater to local sports leagues today. The site features a baseball diamond, two tennis courts, and the Haig Bowl Arena, including lacrosse, ball hockey, and pickleball facilities. Until 2014, the arena was also equipped for ice hockey. 

Industrial recreational sports leagues were all the rage in St. Catharines in the decades following the First World War, with men’s and women’s softball teams especially common. Any manufacturing company with a sizable enough workforce – and there were a great many – would field teams to foster company pride, workplace satisfaction, and community spirit. And Alex McKenzie Park was the go-to location for many of these tournaments, especially those involving McKinnon Industries just next door. Without any higher-level teams in the region, industrial league baseball was a popular spectator sport, and Alex McKenzie Park was featured often in newspaper coverage of the games – usually without a name. 

So who was Alex McKenzie? 

Alex McKenzie was born in Scotland around 1897 and emigrated to Canada with his parents in 1912. Alex grew up to become a landscaper and, in 1923, he and his brother David were hired by the St. Catharines Parks Board to help build the park that would eventually bear his name. Alex continued to work as the park’s landscaper for forty years, often as the park’s only staff. He watered, cut, and cared for the lawns and maintained the sports fields and facilities. Alex was a constant presence at the park and the line between his work and volunteer duties was frequently blurred. In the winter he would flood the Haig Bowl and the ballpark for hockey and pleasure skating. He was known as a peacekeeper at the park’s many sports games and volunteered to sit in the penalty box during hockey and lacrosse games to separate players from opposing teams and prevent fighting. His 6’4”, 260-pound frame was usually enough of a deterrent and was the source of his nickname: Big ‘A’. Alex lived directly across from the park on Haig Street and was constantly on call, often staying at the park from sun-up until midnight. Alex McKenzie died in St. Catharines in 1988 and the park was named in his honour shortly after. 

Hannelore Headley Chess Park 

Hannelore Headley Chess Park is a tiny urban community gathering space at the corner of Queen and Lake Streets. It is located directly across from Montebello Park and so is easily assumed to be an extension of that space. Hannelore Headley Chess Park, however, has a different history, serves a distinct audience, and, of course, has a different name. 

This small community oasis is located on a desirable downtown corner lot, making one wonder why a house or business was never built here. The answer is that Duke Street used to run right through here and join with Lake St. This tricky junction was filled in some time in the 1940s or early 1950s, with Duke now ending at Queen, blocked by a newly created spit of public land.

Unlike the natural haven at Walker’s Creek Park or the sports hub at Alex McKenzie, this space features pruned garden beds, decorative pavement, a fountain, and, as the name suggests, several outdoor chess tables. The park is a popular gathering place for chess enthusiasts and has also served as a safe space where children can learn the game from the likes of local chess educator Greg Willis.  

So where did the name come from? 

Hannelore Headley was born to a Jewish family in Berlin in 1936. Her family escaped the Nazis in Germany during the Second World War. Her father had owned a bookstore there. The family first moved to China where her father opened another bookstore in Shanghai. Increasing persecution from the communist regime forced the family to move again to Canada where they opened yet another bookstore in Montreal. Marriage took Hannelore to Vancouver, where she opened her own bookstore and, at the age of 21, was considered Canada’s youngest bookstore owner. A second marriage finally brought her to St. Catharines in 1968. She opened Hannelore Headley Old & Fine Books in 1972, originally near Duke and Wellington but long located at 71 Queen Street, just two doors down from the park. Hannelore later became a published author and served on several boards, including at the St. Catharines Museum. Hannelore Headley died in 2013, but her bookstore continued to operate until 2021.  

Hannelore Headley was not herself known as a chess player. The parkette, however, had already become a gathering spot for the game in her lifetime and this space and the bookstore were considered complimentary – safe and welcoming spaces promoting education and critical thinking in young minds. Shortly after Hannelore’s death, Greg Willis and his organization Chess Nation were heavily involved in getting the park officially named after her and in fundraising for and planning a plaque and dedication ceremony. 

Burgoyne Woods 

Burgoyne Woods, encompassing some 50 hectares in the Old Glenridge area, is St. Catharines’ largest park. This sprawling park is full of variety, with vast wooded areas, sports fields, playground equipment, walking paths, picnic areas and barbecues, a dog park, and, until 2016, a swimming pool. Like Toronto’s High Park, Burgoyne Woods is located outside of the city centre and has a focus on nature rather than outdoor event space. 

Burgoyne Woods opened as a City park in the late 1920s and immediately became a popular spot for picnicking and outdoor family fun. At the time, St. Catharines had yet to expand very far northward, with urban developments ending around Carlton Street. It was the city’s south end that was experiencing a residential boom, including Glenridge and Western Hill, as well as the separate municipalities of Merritton and Thorold. This new park’s location was considered significant because it straddled between all these thriving areas and was considered a sort of precursor to municipal amalgamation which, even then, was thought to be inevitable. Merritton, of course, became part of St. Catharines in 1961, while Thorold remains a separate city today. 

The Burgoyne name will likely be no great mystery to many of my readers. The Burgoyne family were, of course, local media magnates who owned the St. Catharines Standard newspaper. Their name appears around the city, including the downtown landmark Burgoyne Bridge, the Bill Burgoyne Memorial Arena, and even an event room here at the museum. The Burgoyne connection to this park is, however, more direct, and warrants exploration.   

William Bartlett Burgoyne founded the St. Catharines Standard newspaper in 1891. He also served as an alderman and school trustee, as well as mayor of St. Catharines in 1903 and 1916-17. W.B. Burgoyne was involved in several significant municipal developments, including the Montebello Park rose garden and lobbying for the construction of a high-level bridge that later would bear his name. W.B. Burgoyne died in 1921 and willed the land that would become Burgoyne Woods to the City. Burgoyne owned an estate on the lot but had a strong sense of civic duty as well as a belief in public parks as essential to the prosperity of industrial cities. He also left the City $10,000 for a park fund – no small sum for the time. It took a few years for William’s estate to executed, but the park was accepting visitors by the mid 1920s. The original land donation was for 40 acres, but the park has since tripled in size.  

Conclusion 

Thank you for reading Part 3 of our People of the Parks blog series! Check back next week for the final installment, exploring the Southeast section of the city centred around the historical communities of Queenston and Merritton. See you at the parks! 

Click HERE for Part 4!

Sean Dineley is a Public Programmer at the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre