Up for decision at the June 2 council meeting will be the redevelopment of Centennial Park, which could, if passed, create a more naturalized and child-friendly space. 

There are three segments to the redevelopment plan. A new playground will be installed in place of the outdated existing one, landscaping will be undertaken to create a natural and creative play space for children and finally, a new building will be constructed to house Jasper’s 6 to 12 year-olds during out-of-school periods. 

The first two segments of the project will go ahead this summer if approved by council. However, the construction of the building has been delayed at least a year due to Parks Canada’s decision not to grant the rezoning request which would have seen the entire park rezoned from open space to institutional space. A new property assessment has to be completed and if the building is going to be constructed, a public consultation process will take place, said environmental services director Ken Quackenbush.

As for the start time of the project, “we’re going to hold off until after the July 1 weekend because it’s a pretty busy place for that weekend and then we’ll get in there with as many volunteers as we can get and we’ll focus on both phases [the new playground and relandscaping],” said Quackenbush. 

The new playground equipment initiative has been driven by a local non-profit organization called Slide with Pride, which has fundraised for the cost of the new playground. According to the request for decision document tabled at council on May 19, Slide with Pride has funding commitments totalling $40,000. The Rotary club has also pledged $20,000 to be used exclusively for the naturalized part of the project and has also committed volunteer time to assist with the project. 

Even though much of the heavy work will be completed this summer “because once you get in there and start making a mess, you may as well do it all at once,” said Quackenbush, there will be areas delineated for future development. “So, if people want to continue to fundraise for different ideas... those things can happen in time, but at least the areas will be kind of planned out already and we’ll get some trees growing and some grass regrowing... it’ll kind of evolve, I’m sure,” said Quackenbush.

According to Dayna Alexander, the engineering coop student with the municipality, a naturalized park apart from the new playground equipment is “basically just a park where they don’t use any sort of playground structures. So they want to use natural elements like boulders, logs, sand play. Things that are natural and it’s not prescriptive play in that you don’t give somebody a ladder, so there’s a one use for a ladder, you give them a boulder and then they use their imagination and a boulder can become anything.” 

Calling this project a “fun one,” Quackenbush said that he’s “really looking forward to seeing some change in” Centennial Park. “My concern is that if nothing is done and we just kind of cruise along for ten years here, those trees will start getting thinner and thinner and it won’t be very attractive,” he said. “The nice ambience will disappear if we don’t do something,” he added. 

The cost of redevelopment is expected to be more than $100,000. Donated labour and materials are valued at about $50,000, which includes fundraising, gifts in kind and the involvement of municipal crews and equipment, said the request for decision document.