Historian, artist urge Windsor to restore Jackson Park bandshell into operational venue
Venue has strong ties to historical celebrations of Emancipation Day
Tucked away in Jackson Park behind a chain link fence, a bandshell that played a central role in Emancipation Day celebrations attended by hundreds of thousands of people is surrounded by standing water and overgrown weeds.
As Windsor council discusses the design of $32 million project to upgrade the Riverside Festival Plaza, some want to see the city restore the bandshell as a working performance venue.
Leslie McCurdy said her memories of the August Emancipation Day celebrations in the 1960s are exhilarating. Recalling parades of marching bands, fashion shows and live entertainment that took over Windsor.
Her memories are a stark contrast to what now stands in its place.
Take a look at what the celebrations were like, and what the venue has become:
"It makes me sad that generations today see this, where I saw that wonderment."
McCurdy said she embraces any push to invest in a performing arts space by Windsor's council, but wants the Jackson Park bandshell to be a priority restoration project.
"To not only pay homage to the Emancipation Day celebrations that were here, but create a space where artists of today could preform," said McCurdy.
There are no current plans to restore the bandshell, which hasn't hosted a live performance in decades, according to the senior manager of parks for the City of Windsor.
"It's sort of just sitting there as an underutilized asset," said James Chanko, adding that he has no concerns that the building is deteriorating beyond repair.
Chanko said the bandshell is being used as a storage facility and as a lunch room for city staff.
"That shouldn't look like that," said Kimberly Simmons, vice president of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, when shown recent images of the venue in Jackson Park.
Simmons is a historian who traces her family heritage back hundreds of years with deep connections on both sides of the Detroit River, with a number of relatives who were civil rights leaders.
Her grandfather William Russell Small chaired the Emancipation Day celebrations in Windsor.
Why Simmons believes the neglected Jackson Park bandshell is embarrassing
"At a point in time in the late 50s, 60s you had to come here to this place at our river to talk about the story of civil rights," said Simmons.
In 1956 her grandfather stood beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he addressed the crowd. The original bandshell was destroyed in a fire the next year, replaced by the structure that currently sits in Jackson Park.
Shortly after the fire, the City of Windsor started to withdraw financial support and instead sponsored the International Freedom Festival with Detroit.
Simmons said the shift started the end of the large celebrations that could at times double the population of the city.
"Now we're wondering whether the bandshell will survive," said Simmons, who sees the proposed multi-million dollar investment for the Riverside Festival Plaza as an example of creating something new instead of investing in a unique but neglected piece of North America's history.
"I've been in this in the history game for a long time, and it's somehow it's stunning to me that we don't even celebrate it."
Chacko said he could not speculate on how much it would cost to restore the band shell.
"We're talking about a larger sum of money," said Chacko.
Creating a 'viable venue'
He said that the parks department will be looking at how Jackson Park can be improved through its master plan which would include looking at possible options for the band shell.
"But certainly we can always bring something to council for consideration and certainly look for as much public input and feedback into what that space ultimately looks like and is utilized as part of the park."
McCurdy believes that it would require a lot of work to restore the grounds to its glory days but thinks it would be a beacon for people interested in Windsor's legacy.
"Personally, I think the amount of investment over the short term for what it would essentially be could make this a viable venue over the long term, something that we could be proud of for a hundred years or more here in the city."
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
