A more hands-on approach to how people can use Waskasoo Park was welcomed by Red Deer city council on Monday.
Civic leaders unanimously endorsed the updated Waskasoo Park Interpretive Master Plan that will guide the city on how best to improve existing facilities and what should be done as the city expands. Coun. Cindy Jefferies was absent from the decision.
The plan could cost up to $3 million to implement under a number of recommendations suggested by AldrichPears Associates of Vancouver.
Waskasoo Park stretches from River Bend Golf Course to Fort Normandeau and includes thousands of hectares of park space and 100 km of trails. Plans are to update Kerry Wood Nature Centre, as well as Fort Normandeau.
“We’re really at a critical juncture at re-envisioning our park system,” said Coun. Tara Veer. “We’re committed to expanding and maintaining both the linear park and establishing new node park development to meet the needs of our growing population.”
Phil Aldrich, one of the principals of AldrichPears, described Red Deer’s park system as unique because it’s like a network of parks, not ones that are independent of one another. Improving the park will mean taking into account the kind of users for each area, he said.
“You’re not going to put in a lot of (sign) interpretation for those who are riding their bikes,” Aldrich said.
Aldrich said it’s also important for the city to get away from “just signs on sticks.”
“You have to make it experiential — you want something for kids where it’s whole body experiences, you want something that is artistic, something that is humourous. Something that makes magic.”
Councillors Dianne Wyntjes and Lynne Mulder both expressed pride in Red Deer having such a beautiful park, and that it will continue to be developed.
Wyntjes said she liked the interaction between art and nature, as well as working closely with the aboriginal community on plans for Fort Normandeau. The City of Red Deer’s centennial will happen in 2013, so she’d like to see some of the changes at the fort become a top priority. One proposal includes building a multi-purpose shelter.
“What I particularly like was the comprehensive input (the consultants) got from the public and the users,” said Mulder. She said she especially liked that the report suggested different ways of interacting with users —that there is an interpretive hierarchy. For instance, some signs will be placed in areas where people may tend to stop and want to know what’s on site, such as at Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary.
“I love the outdoor expansion at Kerry Wood,” she added.
Coun. Paul Harris said the plan looks at the environment, but also it shows the connections between people themselves. “The park system has a universal language . . . which is so well represented in this document,” he said.
Coun. Buck Buchanan said he likes the planning tool as long as the city doesn’t get locked in as to what this has to be. He was told that each budgetary item would still have to come to council for approval.
Mayor Morris Flewwelling said he remembers being a part of the first Waskaoo planning process 30 years ago.
“It’s refreshing to see the new parts and to see the enduring parts of the park to be maintained,” said Flewwelling. “That’s reflective of the writers of the report, but also it reflects the amount of consultation from the public.”
City manager Craig Curtis credited Jim Robertson, executive director of the Waskasoon Environmental Education Society, for helping make the park as it is today because he was part of the existing and new park plan.
In other council news:
• A decision on Central Alberta Theatre’s request for assistance was put off.
• A decision on Red Deer College financial assistance was put off until Oct. 26.
• A progress report on the Museum and Art Gallery has been postponed for up to six weeks.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com