The City of Mississauga is forging ahead with plans to purchase privately-owned land in Cooksville to build the city's own version of Central Park.

The proposed park would be roughly 40 acres and would run alongside the Cooksville Creek between Dundas Street and the North Service Road. With approximately 50 homes in the area, councillors voted for the city manager’s office to commence negotiations with property owners to purchase the homes for no greater than $2 million each.

“This is one of the greatest days in the history of Cooksville,” said Coun. Nando Iannicca. “We are going to get our … Cooksville Central Park.”

Last year, Iannicca floated his vision for the park, with flowing streams, picnic areas, playgrounds for children and walking trails, surrounded by the city’s iconic highrise towers. The park would be within minutes of the Hurontario Light Rail Transit (HuLRT) and add much-needed green space to the downtown core.

A 2015 staff report concluded Mississauga’s downtown was severely lacking in parkland and open public spaces, which have been linked to economic vitality and a healthy quality of life. The report compared Mississauga’s downtown to cities across North America, including Minnesota, Washington, Ottawa and Vancouver and determined the average land area for open public spaces in the downtown was just under 10 per cent. Mississauga sits at three per cent.

And with 57,000 more people expected to move into the city by 2041, preservation of green space is paramount.

“What’s difficult is you’re asking people to move where they may have lived their entire lives, so we have to be tender and sensitive to that,” noted Iannicca.

The homes that would need to be purchased fall within the city’s designated floodplain area, which puts the property at risk during heavy rainfall.

Houses located in the floodplain typically see lower market values because of the increased threat of property damage.

City manager Janice Baker said the city would move forward with appraisals to determine what fair market value would be, with an upset limit of $2 million.