Southwest parks benefiting from provincial stimulus funding
A pair of significant projects in the Southwest are part of the provincial government’s $10.3 million stimulus funding directed towards Saskatchewan provincial parks.
This past week the province unveiled there will be a significant campground development at Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Additionally, there will be a new campground service centre and visitor reception centre at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park.
The projects are part of the provincial government’s $7.5 billion two year capital spending plan to help the province recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Byron Davis, the Executive Director of Infrastructure and Capital Planning for the Ministry of Parks, Culture and
Sport, was excited by the project announcements and provincial government financial commitment which is above the base funding announced earlier this year.
“This $10.3 million is in addition to our base capital funding for parks. So it will bring us to over $30 million in total investment by government in park facilities and in infrastructure over the next two years,” Davis said during a phone interview.
The Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park project will result in new camping facilities at the Pine Hill Campground. The campground had been part of a forest renewal project since the winter of 2011 as part of a Forest and Fire Management Plan at the park.
“Pine Hill Campground was clear cut many years ago due to over mature forest, is now going to be re-generated and redeveloped into a campground complete with service centre, and some alternate camping options,” Davis explained.
The Pine Hill Campground project is currently in the early stages of development, and work is anticipated to begin in 2021.
“It’s a very exciting project for Cypress Hills and will provide more camping facilities and more camping options for park visitors to that area.”
Additionally, an interior renovation of the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park pool building was part of a previously announced capital improvement list. Construction work is scheduled to begin later this year.
“Of course the pool has been in place for I think over 30 years now and required some upgrades. The exterior of the pool building was renovated a couple of years back. And now we will be looking at a complete revamping of the interior of that building, upgrades to things like lockers, and wall and floor finishes and fixtures.”
The Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park will benefit from a pair of projects, including a new campground service centre in the Nighthawk Campground area located in the eastern part of the park.
“That will be a welcomed new facility down in the Nighthawk and Riverside campgrounds. It’ll have new shower and washroom facilities there nearby. A very important project that we’ll be working on this year. We’re fast tracking that project and want to get it tendered hopefully over the next month or so.”
Saskatchewan Landing will also benefit from the construction of a new Visitor Reception Centre and office to be located in the northeast quadrant of the park.
“The historic Goodwin House has housed some of our park office and reception in the past. And although that’s a beautiful facility, it was somewhat congested for those dual purposes. So now the primary focus there will be the visitor centre and the historic nature there. And the park reception and office will be located in the other quadrant of the park.”
This project is also in the planning stages, so it will be implemented in 2021.
The stimulus spending will occur in parks across the province in order to build day-use pavilions, develop accessible campsites and picnic sites, refurbish buildings, plus provide upgrades to roads, water/wastewater systems as well as maintenance facilities.
“We do have other upgrades ongoing in many parks, but this stimulus funding allows us to do some more, new exciting projects that are more visitor facing and provide enhanced services to our park visitors.”
The stimulus funding was announced days before the start of the 2020 camping season which was launched on June 1.
The province is reminding park visitors that until further notice, beaches, swimming pools and playgrounds remain closed, in addition to laundry and shower facilities. Access to washrooms will be limited so campers will need to plan accordingly. Signage will be available throughout the parks to remind visitors of safety protocols and restrictions.
Additional information about the start of the 2020 camping season is available at https:// www.tourismsaskatchewan.com/places-to-go/ provincial-parks/announcements.