A modernization plan to update Red Deer’s esteemed Waskasoo Park must include expansion and protection measures, said people who attended a public open house on Monday.
About 20 people attended a preview night at Kerry Wood Nature Centre on how the park system could be interpreted differently through modern signs, new media and technology, sculptures, and permanent and temporary exhibits.
Red Deer resident Guillermo Barron said he’s generally in favour of updating the park through interpretive signs and the like. But what he heard on Monday was what he termed as “the sexy stuff in park designing.”
He thinks that people are concerned more with fundamental issues like having paths plowed in the winter and creating more parking for people floating on rafts in the summer.
“It would be nice if there was a big chunk of money to buy up more land so we could extend the park system,” said Barron. “Just making the park more usable so we can avoid user conflicts. In the future, we may need to have separate bike and pedestrian lanes (on paths).”
Brenda Garrett of Red Deer said she likes that the master plan looks at ways to update the park and entice more users.
“I’d like to see more emphasis though on expanding and maintaining the park,” added Garrett who is particularly concerned with a housing development proposed for the River Glen School site. She wants to ensure that parkland on the site is retained.
The design team of AldrichPears Associates and Grandview Consulting have already met with various stakeholders to get insight into how the Kerry Wood Nature Centre, Fort Normandeau and the rest of the park should be enhanced. The park follows the Red Deer River as well as Waskasoo and Piper creeks. The City of Red Deer partnered with the Waskasoo Environmental Education Society to update the 30-year-old Waskasoo Park interpretive master plan. The city has committed $1.85 million to the project.
Kate Daley, content developer for AldrichPears Associates of Vancouver, said the goal is help people become stewards of the park, both of the cultural and the natural resources, and the environment beyond that.
“It’s a city park, a community park. It’s only as relevant as the people use it, so we want to know what brings people to the park.”
The Kerry Wood Nature Centre would see changes to its indoor exhibits, its lobby as well as to its outdoor area. Three indoor exhibits — Shaping the Landscape, Our Shared River and Our Sustainable Landscape — would showcase what makes the park system so special. Various media would be used within those exhibits, such as a new film for the Shaping the Landscape exhibit. The outdoor gallery would include a nature playground for the children, so they can have some fun in a forest-like setting.
The lobby would include better coffee services, a fireplace and a resource library. Plus, a multi-purpose room would be created inside the nature centre.
Challenges exist at the Fort Normandeau site since it is not connected with any Waskasoo trails.
There are old exhibits at the historic site located west of Hwy 2 from Red Deer via 32nd Street.
“And a lot of people don’t know it’s there,” Daley said.
Plans are to expand building space, as well as programs. Visitors will get a better sense of how people lived back in the 1880s to 1890s.
Stronger participation with the First Nations community is also being sought as part of the planning process.
Daley said much of the changes at Fort Normandeau will happen in the longer term.
“I think the goal is to have the outdoor (interpretation through the park) and the Kerry Wood Nature Centre done for 2013,” she added.
Through the rest of the park, outdoor signs will play a main role. But that’s not all.
“Using beauty and art is a way to attract attraction,” said Daley.
Cynthia de Boer, a board member of the Waskasoo Environmental Education Society, said she’s really enthused about the potential for live-scale art into the exhibits.
“It brings a whole different culture of people to the park,” said de Boer. “It makes it a park for everyone.”
De Boer said she hopes the master plan is embraced because “it’s an incredible step in the right direction.” It will be money well spent, she said.
There’s also plans to have a new centralized website. New technology, including information through mobile phones, would also be used.
An online survey on the master plan is available for only a couple more days at www.reddeer.ca/waskasooparkplan.
The next steps in the process are to gather community feedback for the master plan, master plan approval at city council in March, design exhibits and outdoor interpretation with the help of the public, and open some of the exhibits in the fall of 2013.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com