Over one million Canadians enlisted for military service during the Second World War. For those who returned home, housing shortages were widespread. Recognizing the need for housing local, the Town of Waterloo and Housing Enterprises Canada Limited announced in September 1946, one of Ontario's first housing projects for returning Veterans.
In the rural north end of Waterloo, 50 terrace units were built for rent as part of the "Hillcrest Development" between Dearborn (now University Avenue) and Hill (now Hickory) Streets. A second phase of construction in 1948 produced 83 1 1/2 storey houses that Veterans could purchase along Hazel, Beech, Fir and Hickory Streets.
As families settled in this neighbourhood, a sense of community produced a yearly skating rink in this location, a horseshoe pit in the back of Maple Court and community garden plots on Albert Street. Local children attended school at Northdale, MacGregor, St. Michel, St. David or Waterloo Collegiate Institute.
Family block parties were celebrated in the 1970s and neighbourhood reunions rekindle the memories of growing up in this area. Gradually, over the years this community would become home to many university students attending Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo.
The redevelopment of this parkette in 2005, the "Year of the Veteran", commemorates and honours this area's first residents and their families.
