Four parcels of land near Ojibway National Urban Park are now on the market for $17 million, and Windsor residents are watching closely. These 17.4 hectares wrap around the old Windsor Raceway site but do not include the racetrack itself. What they do include is a rare opportunity to expand the future footprint of Ojibway’s long-awaited national urban park.

Right now, the land is zoned for commercial use. That has people in the community asking: will this become another big box development, or can it be preserved and brought into the park?

Local residents have been vocal. Some worry about losing endangered and threatened species that call this space home. Others want to see the area returned to its natural state and integrated into the park as a buffer zone. One thing is clear: this land matters to people who live nearby.

Federal MP Brian Masse, who once pushed a bill to create the park, says more than $110 million is already available in federal funding for Ojibway, with an additional $34 million allocated specifically to the project. That means there is real potential for the government to step in and purchase the land.

Environmental advocates like Derek Coronado of the Citizens Environmental Alliance argue that Windsor does not need more commercial sprawl. What we need is to protect what is left of our green space. He says this land is “too close” to the park to ignore and calls it a once-in-a-generation chance to strengthen what could be only the second national urban park in Canada.

Windsor City Councillor Fred Francis has also spoken in support of protecting the parcels, saying the ideal outcome would be for all levels of government to work together to add the land to Ojibway.

As it stands, the future of this land is uncertain. Coco Paving, the current owner, has listed the properties and has not commented on their development intentions.

But here’s the bottom line: this is a $17 million decision that could shape Windsor’s environmental legacy. Whether the land becomes part of Ojibway or turns into another commercial zone will depend on what happens next.

This story affects all of us in Windsor. If you care about what happens to Ojibway and our natural spaces, share this article with your network. Let’s keep the conversation going.