Enhancements at Kinosoo Beach and other parks throughout Cold Lake continue to take shape.
The City of Cold Lake announced on July 25, they have awarded the tender for a four-park project to Medicine Hat-based comapny Blue Imp.
“We've been going through the tenders, and we have chosen one that will best benefit the new design of the beach and what is popular for children to play on,” said general manager of community services Glenn Barnes.
The park will include various climbing structures. A pebble scramble, two climbing walls and a squiggle climb will be included for families to enjoy.
Those a little too young for climbing will be able to ride the triple-rail slide side-by-side with their parents, or go exploring through the panda crawl tube.
“Our community is quite young, approximately 14 per cent of our population is between the ages of zero and nine,” explained Barnes. “Our aim here was to give young children a place to climb and play, while the west end of the beach offers basketball and volleyball courts, lending to older youth.”
Upgrades to Imperial Park, Evergreen Park, and Birch Park were also included in the Blue Imp bid. They'll complete work on all four parks for a total of $200,000. Of that, $75,000 will be used for the Kinosoo Beach enhancement.
To avoid driving traffic away from the beach during peak season, construction will take place when summer starts to wind down. The project will take about three weeks to complete. The city doesn't expect the work to effect anyone visiting Kinosoo Beach.
“We didn't want to shut the beach down in the busiest part of the year. This was one of the best timelines we could work out with the builders,” noted Barnes. “Typically by October, the splash park is already shut down for the season. I don't foresee the construction having a significant impact on remaining beach-goers.”
Now that the selection process is out of the way, the city is excited to see the designs come to life. Through the wide variety of play structures included in the project, there isn't an age group that will feel left out.
While it won't be ready to go this year, the new playground will open along with the beach for the 2018 season.
“The quality of these playgrounds is outstanding. With so many options for the kids to play on, there's something for all ages.”
