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Many people living in Ottawa’s Mooney’s Bay area are calling for the return of legal tobogganing to their busy community park.
The city held an open house Monday evening at the nearby Riverside United Church to present options for how the hill could be remodeled to reopen.
“I think the kids in the area and even outside the area would have a lot of fun and I’d like to see it put to use,” said Linda Sabine, one of dozens of community members who attended.
“Really, this park needs to be open for families, for children. There’s literally been thousands and thousands of children who have used this park over the years. It’s a Canadian rite of passage to learn how to toboggan,” said River ward Coun. Riley Brockington.
The Mooney’s Bay Park hill near the Rideau River officially opened for sledding in 2007, but closed a decade later after the city said it generated a significant number of injuries.
Despite the closure, people continued to use the hill until the city fenced it off after an 11-year-old girl struck a signpost and died from her injuries in late 2021.
The hill at Mooney’s Bay Park was fenced off after an 11-year-old girl lost her life in a sledding accident there in 2021. (Natalia Goodwin/CBC)
The incident prompted various reviews of the hill, and in 2025 the city completed a feasibility study with options to modify the hill to provide safe sledding areas not far south of the core.
The city originally proposed three options, all which involved reconfiguring the current hill and remediating soil. All separate sledding areas from cross-country skiing trails and all have risen in price since the city report in autumn.
A 15-metre “thrill hill” costing about $3.5 million.A 5.7-metre “bunny hill” costing about $1.75 millionBoth types of hill, costing about $4.25 million
The city has since added a fourth option, which would see the hill remain in its current, fenced-off state.
“The status quo which is keeping the hill closed in the winter is absolutely not an option. We need to spend some money to make this hill safer for outdoor use,” said Brockington.
People go over the four options for the future of the hill. (Emma Weller/CBC)What’s next?
At Monday’s event, people walked easel to easel, putting stickers on the poster boards to signify which option they liked the best.
Brockington said the board with the most green, smiling stickers does not mean that option “wins,” but is rather used by staff to ensure “we’re on the right page.”
This time, the status quo had the fewest of these stickers and the combination option had the most.
A City of Ottawa poster, presenting an option for the future of the Mooney’s Bay Park hill with many green stickers on it. (Emma Weller/CBC)
The city is taking feedback online until April 10.
It will be read and formulated into a summary, according to Paul Landry, program manager with parks and facilities planning with the City of Ottawa.
Brockington will then look to city staff and city council to support a recommendation to invest into one of the options.
“If council believes we should spend money to make [it] safe for sliding, then we would have to get a budget for that. Once that was approved, then we’d go to the process of detailed design and contract and construction,” Landry said.
The timeline for when those steps could happen is unclear.