Citizens Environment Alliance
628 Monmouth Rd., Windsor, Ontario, Canada N8Y 3L1
CEA in the News
Got $17M to spare? These lands next to Windsor's national urban park are for sale
The large are surrounds, but does not include, the former Windsor Raceway
With files from Jacob Barker and Kathleen Saylors
CBC News · Posted: November 18, 2025
It’s a $17 million chance to grow Windsor’s national urban park.
Land around the former Windsor Raceway is up for sale, and some people want to see it included in the footprint of the park.
The lands were listed Friday, and include four parcels totalling about 17.4 hectares. They surround the raceway, but don’t include the track itself, and closely abut the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park.
Some residents in the area say they’d rather see the land added to the park instead of big box store development.
“There's a couple of endangered species in there and some threatened species and a whole lot of other important nature that we would want to see preserved,” said James Sheridan, who lives nearby.
“I’d ideally see it somehow be joined into the urban National Park.”
“I'd rather just see it go Ojibway, continue on and just go back to its natural state with the trees and bush and the animals running around,” said Gord Hillman, who also lives in the area.
The park has been in the works for years and was expected to open this fall.
In an update on Oct. 7, Parks Canada said partners continued to work towards a formal designation for the park in fall 2025.
Former MP Brian Masse had brought a private member’s bill to create the park during his time in office.
That bill passed the third and final reading in the House of Commons and headed to the Senate before Parliament was prorogued for the election that would ultimately unseat him.
Regarding the lands for sale, Masse says there are millions of dollars in federal funds that could be used to pay for it, and bring it into the park’s footprint.
“There's over $110 million already available and the federal government bank account right now for that,” Masse said.
“There's an additional $34 million that's been allocated for the Ojibway project alone.”
Coco Paving owns the property, and had faced backlash in the past over its plan for the property. The company did not respond to a request for comment Monday about selling the land, which is currently zoned for commercial development.
But one environmental advocate sees an opportunity.
"It's, in our opinion, too close for it to be just another commercial development," said Derek Coronado, coordinator of the Citizens Environmental Alliance.
"Those kind of developments are a dime a dozen in Essex County. There's only one potential national urban park and only potentially the second national urban park in the country.
"But this park needs some beefing up. It's pretty bare bones in terms of its size, and a buffer area around the park that would be included as part of the park would be very important."
Coronado says the parcels of land are a good chance to add to the size of the park, if the federal government stays attuned to what becomes available.
Windsor Coun. Fred Francis represents the area, and also said he does not want to see the land developed.
He said he’d like to see all three levels of government work together to purchase the lands and add them to the park.
“Obviously you're dealing with a private owner and you know, I certainly don't want to negotiate in public. This is coming from me. That’s not coming from the city or anything official, but you know, I'll certainly try to do my best to advocate for that,” he said.
“But if you were to ask me what the perfect situation would be is certainly to get those lands within the city portfolio and add it to the Ojibway Nature Reserve.”
The provincial and federal ministries responsible for parks were unable to provide a response to CBC News on Monday.
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