CENTENNIAL PARK The , located behind the Senior Citizen's com¬ plexes on , was developed in 1967 as a centennial year project. In 1978 a creative playground was built behind the O'Leary Elementary School. It was a joint project of the Community of O'Leary and the Unit 1 School Board, assisted by Neighbourhood Improvement Program and Young Canada Works funding at a cost of about $20,000. Additional equipment was added in 1989. The Children's Park behind the Irving Service Station on was established in 1988. POOL HALLS Many hours of leisure were spent by men of this community in the local pool halls. Over the years there have been five such estab¬ lishments in the village. Gordon Bennett had a pool hall just behind the present location of Herbie Strang's house. He eventually sold to Keith Howatt who operated it for only a few years. John Henry Corcoran operated his business in the second floor of his own build¬ ing - now Wayne's T.V . shop. John Russell had a pool hall and Submarine Sandwich Shop on the present site of the Youth Center. Marne Kennedy built a pool hall on Willow Ave . near the Verdun Theatre. It was operated by Wilfred Dennis . This building was later moved to the present site of the Youth Center and remained in oper¬ ation until 1956 when the building was sold and hauled to St. Eleanors for their Lions Club. RACE TRACKS A form of entertainment in O'Leary which has carried on throughout generations has been horse racing. The first race track in O'Leary was made by William Ellis . It was located in the area where Wilfred Dennis ' house now stands. The next race track was located on the farm of Havelock Gibbs . The third track was made by Sanford Phillips . It was located on the property which now is the fertilizer plant. The races were organized by Mr. Phillips . Matinee races with horses from all parts of the Island raced over this track. The owners raced for small prizes, but mostly for sport. The races were very dif¬ ferent from present day racing. Facilities were very limited for horse¬ men and their horses. Betting on horses did not occur unless specta¬ tors placed wagers among themselves on the horse they thought would win. 124