Bower Ponds, Great West Adventure Park and Great Chief Park in Red Deer will reopen this morning after being closed for about two weeks as a result of flooding.
Trevor Poth, Red Deer Parks superintendent, said those areas as well as the Kiwanis Picnic Park and the trail that connects Three Mile Bend to Heritage Ranch are now safe for people to use.
“We still have a number of sites we’re keeping closed though,” said Poth.
One that will remain closed is Three Mile Bend, as there is still a significant amount of water in the park.
“We’re cautiously optimistic we can get part of Three Mile Bend open for this coming weekend,” said Poth. “Right now we’re still pumping water out of there like crazy and there are still some areas that have water on the trails.
“That’s probably how a lot of our parks are going to feel, partially open. We’re still going to have barricades up in certain places and we’ll have certain areas that are off-limits, but we want to give people access as soon as possible.”
All of McKenzie Trails, lower Heritage Ranch, including the island fishing dock and shale trails, the River Bend Perimeter Trail and the fishing dock and boat launch in Bower Ponds remain closed.
“All the boat launches in the city are going to remain closed for the time being,” said Poth.
The boat launch at Great West Adventure Park was briefly used by Red Deer Emergency Services last week, but remains closed to public use.
McKenzie Trails were the hardest hit by the June flooding and the current estimate to have them reopened is within six to eight weeks, but it may take even longer than that.
“Until those water levels recede we can’t even assess the infrastructure,” said Poth. “Once we’re able to assess what we need to fix, then we’ll be able to put some more firm timelines on.”
At McKenzie Trails, the boardwalk, playground and picnic table area are still under water.
The perimeter trail at River Bend was completely washed out by the high water levels and an engineer is coming in to assess the damage.
The concerts planned for the Bower Ponds ampitheatre this coming weekend, Oldbury and Half Chance Heroes on Friday and Fred Penner on Sunday, will go ahead.
People are still encouraged to not go beyond barricades that are up at various trails for their own safety.
“Even the trails that are open, they still have some sediment on them and there is a risk of people coming across hazards,” said Poth. “People should continue to use caution in the parks.”
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com