(The Alfred McCoy Park was commemorated on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 73 West Ridge Drive in Stittsville. Along with Councillor Glen Gower, three of Alfred’s grandchildren celebrated the park’s official naming – Christopher (Chris), Barbara, and Ross Bradley – with extended family and friends. Photos: Stittsville Central and the Bradley family)
On Saturday, October 5, 2024, at 73 West Ridge Drive in Stittsville, the Alfred McCoy Park was celebrated. Barbara, Christopher (Chris) and Ross Bradley – three of Alfred’s grandchildren – along with extended family and friends gathered to celebrate the official naming of the Alfred McCoy Park. The grassy area where the park is located is a special place for nearby residents and includes a forest pathway that’s a popular spot for walkers and joggers.


At the opening, Barbara and Ross thanked everyone on behalf of the family for the work that went into naming a park in honour of their grandfather. Although both young when Alfred passed away, they shared fond memories of their grandfather. Councillor Gower thanked everyone for attending and said that the large grassy area may someday be home to a community garden, or to a “mini-forest” pilot project.
Alfred McCoy was born on Mansfield Road in the former Goulbourn Township. His parents were Francis “Frank” McCoy and Ellen Jane Healey. In 1932, he married Mary Ellen (Mae) Porter and their daughter Jean, was born October 2, 1934. Alfred entered the trucking business when he was quite young. Finally transitioning to the road construction business, Mr. McCoy partnered with fellow Stittsville resident William J. Bell to form the McCoy-Bell Construction Company in the 1940’s. The company eventually went separate ways, leading to the founding of the A.H. McCoy Construction Company.


Mr. McCoy provided jobs for many Stittsville residents in the 1950’s and 60’s, including Keith Hobbs for a summer in 1966. A.H. McCoy Construction was one of the leading Eastern Ontario road construction companies during that time.

Alfred McCoy, was a business leader in Stittsville and led the village in the progress of local recreation programs and facilities. Alf, as everyone knew him, was instrumental in ensuring that a baseball field, tennis courts and an outdoor skating rink (operated by Milton Scott, who everyone called Grampa Scott) were installed back in the 1950’s and 60’s on the current site of the Goulbourn Non-Profit Housing Corporation’s Carleton Apartments on Carleton-Cathcart Street. For a time, the area was referred to by residents as the A.H. McCoy Park providing a hub of all-season sports activity for those of us who grew up in Stittsville.






In 1963, the Village of Stittsville passed a motion to create the A.H. McCoy Park, but in the 1980’s, persuasion by developers led to the construction of Carleton Apartments for seniors where the park was located. When the Stittsville Community Centre was constructed and officially opened in 1971, soon after, the tennis courts would be newly located at Alexander Grove Park; and, the baseball teams also moved to the existing ball diamonds at the ‘Grove’. No need was evident for the outdoor rink, as Stittsville finally had an indoor facility, hence the rink too went by the wayside. As did A.H. McCoy Park.



An example of Alf McCoy’s philanthropy and care for his community: in 1955, a large bush fire broke out ruining a 60-acre timber section on the old Rowland farm property (about five miles west of Stittsville). With two large flare-ups, it took three days for the 20 volunteer firefighters, with help from the Reeve at that time, Dr. Harold Spearman, to extinguish. The Reeve described the blaze “as the worst of its kind in his memory”. It was with the aid of Alfred McCoy that the fire, with flames 40 or 50 feet in height at times, was extinguished. Alfred had a bulldozer from his company, A.H. McCoy Construction, brought to the property using it to circle the scene, pushing down trees and carving a rough road through a swamp and the bush to aid the firefighters. Dr. Spearman ‘lauded’ McCoy for lending his equipment to help extinguish the fire.
In recognition of his extensive community service and contributions to advancing recreation programs in Stittsville, the City of Ottawa received a proposal from Keith Hobbs to name the West Ridge Park B, the Alfred McCoy Park. This commemorative naming honours Alfred McCoy’s historical services and donations to the community of Stittsville. For such a progressive and community-minded man – finally a permanent home for the Alfred McCoy Park was commemorated. This park, named in his honour, has been a long time coming.

Great article, Lesley and Russell. Thanks.
Beautiful park, well done Mr. McCoy!
Here is a video of the park naming ceremony https://youtu.be/78itUGpt92U
Wonderful – thanks for sharing this Keith. I’m sure many will enjoy watching and learning of Alf’s history throughout our area.