By Katie Ryan
Campers at Weaver Park this summer won’t just be enjoying their time outdoors, they’ll also be enjoying several new upgrades, including a new washroom facility and picnic shelter currently under construction.
The city is working hard to complete the new washroom/shower house by March 31, since the replacement of the aged infrastructure was the main component of their application for the time sensitive federal Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) grant.
“We are still on target for getting that funding from the federal government, it just means that we’ve increased our contribution to the overall project to make sure the building is of great looking design,” said director of parks and recreation Corwin McCullagh.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, officials approved the revised CAF Weaver Park project budget and expenditures of approximately $759,000, which includes roadwork, landscaping and the new washroom facilities.
The original overall funding that the city was planning on spending for the Weaver Park upgrades totalled an estimated $600,000 – $525,000 of which will be provided from the federal grant so long as the March 31 deadline is met.
The revised budget for the washroom facility reflects its doubled square footage for the picnic shelter, plus the required heating and plumbing.
“The majority of the funding for the overall project is now being focussed specifically on the completion of this one shower house and picnic shelter that is combined in order to drive traffic to the campground,” said McCullagh, adding that the gazebo currently serving as a picnic shelter in Weaver Park is structurally unsound and is slated for removal in the future.
“With the demand for picnic shelters for families at Bud Miller, we thought it would be appropriate that we create a source of ongoing revenue for the park by creating a new picnic shelter on to the existing shower house and washroom being planned. There is going to be benefits for the general public, specifically for events such as Canada Day where we need additional picnic spaces.”
City officials awarded the washroom/picnic shelter tender to Bexson Construction for an adjusted price of an estimated $540,000.
“We really, in short order, put together a plan to replace the shower house and we didn’t have the benefit of being thoroughly prepared with an understanding of the cost, so once we put the tender out we got a true reflection of how mechanically intensive the building is and the consequent costs that are associated with that design. We’ve done our best to turn it around,” said McCullagh.
While the Bexson tender will save the city roughly $43,000 – by using 40-year fibreglass laminated shingles resulting in $33,000 of savings and by not installing a $10,000 barbecue – the city still needs additional funds for the project. To reduce expenditures, the construction of new picnic tables, fire pits and concrete pads for sites will be either deferred or reallocated to building costs.
The variance in revenues between initial and revised budgets will be financed through $32,000 of general revenue and through a loan.
“We plan on using a 10-year repayment plan, borrowing money internally from our reserves to pay off the costs that weren’t anticipated. We feel this is great, it’s going to improve the level of service over at Weaver Park Campground,” said McCullagh.
“As a result it will be a destination for people to stop at because of the quality of washrooms will be fantastic. And for people to camp, that is a very important amenity to have.”