Less than 100 feet from Lac la Biche Lake, work has started on a project that will bring water-based recreation onto dry land. Behind a temporary fence, construction of the Richard Memorial Spray Park has begun.
Less than 100 feet from Lac la Biche Lake, work has started on a project that will bring water-based recreation onto dry land.
Behind a temporary fence, construction of the Richard Memorial Spray Park has begun. The project won’ t be completed in time for a June grand opening as Lac La Biche County officials had hoped, but the municipality still intends to see it finished this year.
The spray park has a $940,000 budget, with the Richard family supplying $250,000 to help cover the costs. The family’ s involvement comes from the park being built in memory of Paul Richard, a local businessman who lost his life on a canoeing trip on the Christina River in 2013.
Apart from sentimental value to the community, the park will also be one of the keystones of the County’ s Recreation Master Plan, which will become a blueprint for improving McArthur Park and the whole lakefront.
“We’ re putting one piece of the puzzle down,” said Mayor Omer Moghrabi. “We have to do an overall plan for that area and along the lakeshore.”
Building the park first and then building the plan around it isn’ t his preferred way to go about it, he says, but the park’ s location near the existing playground and beach means that, in future undertakings, the County will have to work around it.
“It makes sense for it to be there,” Moghrabi said. “We’ re going to put everything around it.”
Originally, the plan was to build the spray park away from the lakeshore, among the baseball diamonds, but County Council insisted it be built closer to the water’ s edge. Councillors say that, with other recreation options already there, that corner of McArthur Park will become a one-stop destination for local amusements.
A mechanical building for the spray park will also be needed, but rather than build a whole new washroom and changing room facility, the County has decided to simply upgrade the existing seasonal washroom building. That work will be done at the same time as the spray park construction. The mechanical building will be built beside the site, near 99 Street.
While the project is brought to completion, municipal officials say there shouldn’ t be much of an impact on nearby residents.
“There may be some noise during the day and extra traffic in the area on occasion, but disruption should be minimal,” said County spokesperson Julie MacIsaac. “The worksite will be fenced off but the ball diamonds, beach area and walking trails should all be accessible for use.”
This week, passersby should expect to see construction crews probing the ground at the site to determine how to proceed safely and without damaging any buried infrastructure.
“Locates and underground work should begin (this week), followed by grading and sub-grading,” said MacIsaac. “The site will then be prepared for the play structures prior to installation. Next, cement work and walking paths will be done, followed by the installation of the mechanical facility and water circulation system.”
When all of that’ s done, County staffers will be trained on how to operate the whole aquatic playground.
A solid completion date for the project hasn’ t been determined, but the municipality plans to have the park done before the year’ s end.
“Completion of any outdoor construction project is always dependent on weather and other variables, however, the goal is to have the spray park complete in 2015,” MacIsaac said.
