Victoria Park, Kitchener
Victoria Park is the oldest park in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, situated downtown. It is the site of numerous events and festivities.
Draining of the swamp
A Berlin map from 1879 has a Town Park, located between Mill Street and Highland Road where Highland Courts and Woodside Parks stand today. It sits on the original Joseph E. Schneider homestead; the municipal government had purchased some acres from the family in 1895 and drained the swamp on the land. The purchase was initially opposed by some parties for being too far outside of town. The park opened on 27 August 1896; the lake, bridges and three islands were in place at that time.Dedication and buildings
The Park was named after Queen Victoria ahead of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria on the British throne. The human-made lake is fed by Schneider Creek, surrounds three small islands, and is crossed by multiple bridges. The park also contains the Victoria Park pavilion, the Victoria Park Gallery and Archives, a bandstand, and a historic boathouse, a pub and music venue. A pavilion was first introduced to the park in 1902 as a response to complaints that there was nowhere to seek shelter when it started to rain.Designed by Charles Knechtel, the structure was set on fire in 1916 and deemed too damaged to recover. A second pavilion, borrowing heavily from Knechtel's original design, was built in 1924. Situated on the same spot as the original, the front of the pavilion faces the water, whereas the original faced the park's main island.
Clock tower
The Gaukel street entrance features a clock tower which was once atop the old Kitchener City Hall, and before that, the town's fire hall. It was moved to the park entrance and complemented with a fountain and a sculpture of luggage, by local artist Ernest Daetwyler, symbolizing the various waves of immigration that have contributed the city's history.Statue of Queen Victoria
A cast-bronze statue of Queen Victoria by Cavaliere Raffaele Zaccaquini and a cannon are situated in the park. The statue was unveiled in May 1911, on Victoria Day on the ten year anniversary of her death. The Princess of Wales Chapter of the IODE raised the $6,000 needed for the monument.Statue of Wilhelm I, German Emperor
In 1897 a large bronze bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I, made by Reinhold Begas and shipped from Germany, was installed at in the park to honour the region's prominent German-Canadian population. It was removed and thrown into the lake by vandals in August 1914 at the beginning of the First World War.The bust was recovered from the lake and moved to the nearby Concordia club, but it was stolen again February 15, 1916, marched through the streets by a mob, made up largely of soldiers from the 118th Battalion, and has never been seen again. The 118th Battalion is rumoured to have melted down the bust to make napkin rings given to its members.
A monument with a plaque outlining the story of the original bust was erected in the park in 1996.