Turntable Park

Wakefield hopeful wants return of joie de vivre

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / August 27, 2025 / La Pêche municipal elections, Municipal candidates La Pêche, Parc Roquebrune, Quebec municipal elections, Shaujn McArthur, Trevor Greenway, Turntable Park, Wakefield Ward

By Trevor Greenway

Shaughn McArthur wants Wakefield to return to the funky, grassroots, artist-driven village that made it such a desirable place for the many walks of life who have called it home.

The Wakefield resident has announced that he is running for the Wakefield Ward in the upcoming municipal elections, and he said he wants to see the village’s quirky joie de vivre return.

“I think Wakefield is about to see some explosive change, and it’s important for it to be done sensibly and with some real, attentive, local representation,” McArthur told the Low Down during a sit-down interview at Wakefield’s turntable park.

Turntable park, officially known as Parc Roquebrune, is significant, as the municipality is looking to revamp it, and the next council will be tasked with how to do that – in particular whether or not to remove the turntable itself or memorialize it as part of the redesign.

“We need to make sure that, as we build more of these developments, there are spaces like turntable park, like the docks, and we should come back to the covered bridge, where people can continue to come together outside of their backyards,” added McArthur. “I don’t want this to become a gated community, where people are having barbecues and pools in their backyards for that to happen. We still need places like the community centre, like the parks, where we come, and we are together in community.”

McArthur is no stranger to politics, as he ran federally for the Green Party of Canada in 2021, finishing in sixth place with 1,710 votes. He is currently the government relations associate director with Nature United, the Canadian chapter of the world’s largest conservation organization. He has extensive experience working with Indigenous groups on climate action and solutions in agriculture and forestry.

Locally, McArthur, 43, has lived in the village for over a decade, where he raised his two children and has been engaged in multiple community efforts over the years, including as former board member of the Centre Wakefield La Pêche (CWLP) and was the chair of the centre’s transfer committee, which oversaw the recent community centre building transfer to the municipality.

Through his work and volunteer efforts, he said he has built strong relationships with local representatives, including MP Sophie Chatel, and other La Pêche councillors currently serving.

“It’s about pulling all that stuff together to make sure that Wakefield continues to be this incredible hub in La Pêche, the broader MRC and the Pontiac, but in a way that it doesn’t lose its flavour and its quirkiness,” he said.

McArthur added that Wakefield needs a councillor who is engaged and ready to tackle big problems. He said he wants to help businesses thrive, ensure service workers have places to live – rental properties they can afford – and that Wakefield and the broader community commit to serious plans on climate action, emergency preparedness and housing for the aging population.

“We’ve got incredible densification going on – that’s great – but it needs to come with the right municipal infrastructure that plays into disaster preparedness, but also plays into the flavour of the community that we have,” he said. “You need affordable housing. You need people on lower, different income scales to contribute to the culture of this place, because that’s what makes it so great.”

He continued: “This community and its flavour and its commerce will not move forward in the way that we want if we can’t find places to house folks that are waiting our tables, tending our bars, cleaning our trails.”

Quebecers head to the municipal polls on Nov. 2.

Wakefield hopeful wants return of joie de vivre Read More »

La Pêche seeks community input for turntable park

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / July 23, 2025 / community consultation, Guillaume Lamoureux, La Pêche, Parc Roquebrune, Public consultation, Stanley Britton, Turntable Park, Wakefield, Wakefield Rail Heritage Advocacy Group

By Trevor Greenway

What should the municipality of La Pêche do with turntable park in Wakefield?

Expand the swimming area? Renovate the washrooms? Remove the historic turntable or renovate it to become part of the visitor experience?

“We want to do this right,” La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux told the Low Down about the park that’s officially known as Parc Roquebrune. “It’s a super important park, so we want it to be welcoming, accessible and adapted to the needs of the community.”

Lamoureux and council have launched an online public consultation to solicit ideas from residents on what they would like to see at the park in the future. Some of those options include: picnic areas, a space for community events, a playground for kids, a tourism information kiosk and renovated washrooms. The online survey also asks residents if they would like to see increased or decreased parking at the park.

“We want to create a space that truly reflects the values and needs of our community,” said Lamoureux. “We invite everyone who uses the park or is interested in its future to share their ideas and vision.”

One thing is clear: La Pêche is not building a motorized boat launch as Chelsea Mayor Pierre Guénard suggested recently during a meeting on the closure of the Farm Point boat launch. However, the municipality is seeking the public’s input on what to do with the park, which already features a public beach and swimming area.

Readers may recall our story this past spring, in which Wakefield resident Stanley Britton called on La Pêche to not “pave paradise” to increase parking at turntable park. Britton’s plan called for a renovation of the turntable, a new playground and a community stage for art shows and concerts. Britton was part of Wakefield’s Rail Heritage Advocacy Group, which is pushing to save the heritage of the steam train that used to roll through the village twice a week between May and October.

When it comes to the train tracks, the options for the park’s redesign also leave La Pêche at a bit of a crossroads: Does the municipality rip up the train tracks throughout the village, remove the turntable altogether and install heritage plaques throughout the village to honour its history? Or, does the municipality incorporate the heritage tracks into a pathway design and renovate the turntable so it’s accessible to the public?

“It’s one of our most visited municipal parks,” added Lamoureux. “We know it’s important, both for community members and visitors.”

Residents can access the online consultation via the municipal website at: https://lapecheconsulte.ca, and attend a public participatory workshop on Aug. 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Wakefield community centre. A consultation kiosk will also be installed at turntable park on Aug. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where residents can take the survey and add their comments.

La Pêche seeks community input for turntable park Read More »

Don’t ‘pave paradise’ for Wakefield parking lot

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / May 22, 2025 / La Pêche, Rail Heritage Advocacy Group, Roquebrune Park, Stanley Britton, Trevor Greenway, Turntable Park, Wakefield

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Stanley Britton is hoping that La Pêche doesn’t “pave paradise” to put up a parking lot.

The municipality has plans to expand the parking at the popular Gatineau River beach near the Wakefield General Store, but Wakefield resident Britton, a member of Wakefield’s Rail Heritage Advocacy Group, has a much more ambitious plan to revitalize the rail network throughout the village while protecting its rich history by revamping the old train turntable.

“When we’re talking about rail heritage and turntable park, we’re not just talking about the park,” Britton told the Low Down during a sit-down interview at Cafe Earle in late February. “We’re talking about the entire riverfront.”

Britton’s plan, which should really be called “Stan’s Plan,” features an expanded riverside boardwalk stretching the entire Wakefield village, an artists stage at Roquebrune Park – known locally as Turntable Park – and a new steam train replica, serving as a playground for local kids. His vision also calls for a replica of the old Rockhurst Junction, which would serve as a waiting shelter for trail users.

The municipality has been considering what to do with the park ever since the Wakefield Steam Train stopped chugging through the village in 2011.

A major storm washed away part of the rail bed in Chelsea, and the multi-million dollar fix was too much to absorb. The rail bed became overgrown with weeds, the rail cars were sold off in pieces and the locomotive was sold to the Dalton Ecological Park in Gatineau.

Chelsea ripped up the rails on its portion of the rail line and built the Voie Verte for pedestrians and cyclists. Britton said he’s hoping La Pêche doesn’t make the same mistake.

“There’s a whole argument with this push to connect the trail to Chelsea, flatten it and pave it,” said Britton, referring to the Wakefield Rails to Trails group, which, in the past has argued in favour of ripping up the rails and connecting Wakefield to the Voie Verte in Chelsea. “But you’re paving over our history, really.” In Stan’s plan, paving stones would be installed between the rails, like it is in Wakefield’s centre-village.

La Pêche has since solicited proposals from consultants to revitalize the park, but in those plans, much of the history of Wakefield’s waterfront would disappear.

“The only thing remaining would have been the water tower, and much of the green space between the turntable and the Wakefield General Store, which already accommodates a lot of parking, would essentially be all parking,” said Britton about the previous proposals submitted to the municipality.

Britton said it would be a shame if the train turntable was removed, as the rail heritage group believes it is one of the last remaining working turntables in the country. The former Canadian Northern Railway turntable in Dauphin, one of the last ones in Manitoba, will be dismantled this summer.

“The key to a turntable park – and indeed to all of the rail heritage – is the turntable, because it really is a major structure,” added Britton.

Britton has sourced out the cost for replacing the deck boards at turntable park as well as at the green bridge in Wakefield at $18,000. The replica steam train playground, however, will be closer to $300,000, but Britton said he’s confident in Wakefielders’ fundraising abilities.

La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux confirmed that there is a plan to improve parking at the village beach near the general store, update the public washrooms located nearby and “improve access to the river,” but he added that the municipality’s public infrastructure, park and greenspaces department will be hosting public consultations this summer to get the public’s input on how to improve and develop turntable park. He said that parking would be expanded, but wouldn’t encroach on the beach area.

“I am really looking forward to sitting down with the community and seeing what people have in mind,” said Lamoureux. “The goal is to come up with a plan for investing in that park. Clearly, there are additional needs to completely redo the bathrooms, improve parking and improve access to the river.”

A date for the municipality’s public consultation has not been set.

Don’t ‘pave paradise’ for Wakefield parking lot Read More »