After delays thanks to weather and equipment problems, the renovations at Lions Park are complete — just in time for one of its biggest annual events.
As the Rock’n August show-and-shine revs up Saturday afternoon, the playground, washrooms and rest of the park are rejuvenated and ready to go, much to the relief of many of the officials involved in the project.
“It’s a big checkmark there,” said John Younie, the City of St. Albert’s manager of major projects and parks planning. “We were getting calls on a regular basis from residents because they wanted to take their kids down to the park. It’s a wonderful central location with all the amenities, including a playground, parking, washrooms and barbecue pits. It just provides a great experience, and we were frustrated that Mother Nature wasn’t co-operating.”
The city and the St. Albert Host Lions Club both had their projects hung up this spring.
“We were hoping to have it open before Canada Day, but that just didn’t happen,” said Bryan Evans, a member of the Lions and project manager for the group. “It’s a relief to get it done and open for this weekend.”
The wet weather that St. Albert has been experiencing through much of the spring and summer months has also contributed to delays in this project, which was originally supposed to be finished in the spring.
“[The weather] hampered it to a significant degree; that was one of the main reasons why we weren’t able to open the playground sooner,” Younie said. “The playground itself could have been opened a little bit sooner, but the challenge was the construction that was happening around it within the park. There was some concrete work, some asphalt paving, so it was a safety issue.”
The wet weather has delayed a lot of the city’s outdoor projects, said Chris Jardine, the city’s general manager of community and protective services.
But weather wasn’t the only problem. There were some “deficiencies,” as Jardine put it, in the playground equipment that was to be installed.
“They’re generally the types of things we experience when we install playgrounds, things like a slide might not be at the right angle to provide an appropriate run-off height or bolts missing,” Younie said.
But those were all sorted out and Evans said they are very happy with the equipment, which was purchased from Peak Sales and Distribution in St. Albert.
“We went with something that was a little different, both visually and in play experience, so we could attract on special days and weekends to Lions Park for a bit of a different experience,” he said, noting that they had proposals from three different companies.
The Lions are in the process of raising about $100,000 for the new playground equipment, but Evans said they aren’t having any major problems in doing that. They’re planning an official rededication of the playground equipment in September.
The city footed the rest of the bill for the renovations.
“Chances are we wouldn’t have gotten it done if not for the Lions,” Jardine said.
Aside from the new playground equipment, one of the city’s major objectives was winterizing the Lions Park washrooms so they can be used year-round.
The work also included landscaping and redevelopment of the picnic and fire pit area, and the development of a small earthen amphitheatre for future use, Jardine said.
“But one of the core pieces was turning that washroom facility into a 12-month facility,” he said.
The only other parks facility with winterized bathrooms in the city is the Kingswood Park clubhouse, which is mainly used by the St. Albert Nordic Ski Club in the winter.
The Lions Park renovations were prompted by the fact that 2011 is both the city’s 150th birthday and the 60th anniversary of the Lions Club in St. Albert.
