Barrie wins gold in Community in Blooms contest

Communities in Bloom judges will be visiting Barrie July 26 to 28 (CTV NEWS/FILE PHOTO)

Barrie wins 5 Bloom rating in national gardening competition.

An official winner of the International Challenge Large category, the city of Barrie was awarded a Gold medal and a special mention for its Waterfront Strategic Plan.

At the ceremonies recently held in Charlottetown, PEI, Barrie was also given an Outstanding Achievement Award for the CNLA Green Cities Award.

In their judgement, volunteer judges Dr. Andrea Bocsi and Alain Cappelle noted "Barrie's waterfront is the crown jewel of the city and preserving the public spaces along the shorelines is a high priority."

"The Waterfront Strategic Plan includes revitalization projects such as the floral installation at Military Heritage Park, recommendations for the 21 waterfront parks around Kempenfelt Bay and the planting of 1000+ new trees along the 10-kilometre stretch, and in addition introducing an improved ecological offsetting policy aimed at planting more trees within the city limits."

Over the summer, trained volunteer judges travelled to participating communities to evaluate the overall contributions of municipal council and departments; industry; businesses and the private sector – including volunteer efforts – regarding the following criteria: Community Appearance, Environmental Action, Heritage Conservation, Tree Management, Landscape and Plant & Floral Displays.