Official Name:

ALEXANDER PARK

Formerly: West Hamilton Park

Location: on Whitney Ave. and Rifle Range Rd., west of Leland St., next to Ainslie Wood Park and Prince Philip Public School, near Merna Ave. - Ward 1

Survey Description: registered Compiled Plan 1478, Lot 40

Size: 4.23 hectares (10.45 acres)

Official Naming Date: November 24, 1987

Features: ball diamonds, batting cage, playground, outdoor ice rink (some years), wading pool, walkways, field house, bleachers, benches, picnic tables, washrooms, drinking fountain

History

In 1960, West Hamilton Park was renamed Alexander Park in honour of the Governor-General of Canada from 1946 to 1952, Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander (1891-1969). A celebrated British soldier in both World Wars, Alexander was named a viscount in 1946, and First Earl Alexander of Tunis in 1952.

The Alexander Park lands were originally a rifle range for Hamilton's 13th Royal Regiment from around 1890. In 1945, when the rifle ranges were no longer used, local residents asked the Parks Board if they could use this land for a ballfield. The Parks Board spoke to the the federal government, who still owned the ranges, and received unwritten approval to "play ball" that same year. Two years later, on June 1, 1947, the City bought the land for $4,550. Basic park development was finished in 1954.

The wading pool was added in 1960, and the first two official baseball diamonds were built in 1963.

The wall that held the targets for the old rifle range can still be seen in the woods near the park.

References:
1. Annual Report for the Board of Park Management for the City of Hamilton, 1945.
2. Corporation of the City of Hamilton, Department of Public Works and Traffic, Parks Division, Park Development Section. Parks Master Plan database, 1996.
3. Encyclopedia Canadiana. vol. 1. Toronto: Grolier, 1972. p. 126.