BONNYVILLE – The Kinosoo Ridge Adventure Park is getting a helping hand from the federal government.
The MD of Bonnyville is receiving $800,000 through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure program.
“We knew we were in the running and we’re certainly glad that we made the final cut,” noted Reeve Greg Sawchuk. “It’s going toward the project that’s certainly going to be something different for the area.”
In order to qualify for the funding, the municipality had to have a minimum of 33 per cent of provincial funding, which they already had through the MSI capital to the tune of $666,000.
“We knew about the provincial funding a while ago because we had to apply for it a while ago,” noted Esther Quiambao, manager of legislative and information services. “We were going to use it potentially or maybe not… We were waiting on the awarding on the federal side.
Sawchuk described the process as a long one.
“These were initially put in two years ago, so it’s nice to see some of that money finally moving.”
Quiambao agreed, “It was a two phased process where we actually had to submit an expression of interest and then have that reviewed by the province through Alberta Infrastructure and then once the province short listed or approved those expressions of interests, then those people were requested to submit a full proposal, which was then submitted to Infrastructure Canada for their review and approval.”
MD council decided against waiting to hear if they have received the federal funding back in February and forged ahead fully anticipating to cover the cost of adding an adventure park to Kinosoo Ridge.
The process of adding a structure to the facility began to gain traction after the MD hosted open houses asking what residents wanted to see added to the area.
“It fell in line with what the residents identified in a recreational survey in regards to taking advantage of our natural spaces,” noted Sawchuk. “Kinosoo Ridge is an absolute gem of a location and is probably one of the best spots to look over Cold Lake.”
With the opening day of the May long weekend of 2021 within sight, Sawchuk hopes the money keeps the project on the right track.
“Most of the work is going to be done over the winter,” he noted. “Once the spring comes, they can go out there and put it on the landscape. There will be working to be done here in the fall but it’s looking like it’s all going to come together finally.”
