EDMONTON – City councillors officially threw out the idea of turning Hawrelak lake into a swimming hole Monday, but they voted to move forward with a cheaper, small-scale beach between the lake and the parking lot.
“It will still be a wading experience,” said Linda Cochrane, general manager of community services. Council voted to issue a request for proposal on the idea, which could see construction start as early as summer 2013.
Council has been debating the idea of adding an accessible water feature to Hawrelak Park since at least 2001, but has consistently been told making the lake clean enough for swimming would be to expensive, with early estimates pegged at up to $60 million.
That idea is now off the table.
On Monday, councillors heard a summary from the nine different companies that sent council expressions of interest to build a wading facility at Hawrelak None could make the lake swimmable for under $6 million and even with higher budgets, they could not guarantee they could meet Alberta Health Regulation standards.
Five companies proposed children’s wading pools that were similar to a beach with a lazy river or spray features. The beach might have a short wall in the water to separate it from the main lake in order to keep the beach water clean.
The system would need a chlorination filtration system, similar to what cleans the water at the City Hall pool. The water feature would be located on the east side of the lake, near the main parking area, but just outside the triathlon path.
“The target budget is $3 million to $5 million,” said Joe Karbarchuk, manager of project management for the city.
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“If we’re on the right track and the budget is right, we could probably complete the preliminary design by next spring,” he said.
“Construction potentially could start next summer, and depending on the design and scope, it could take six to 12 months to construct. This is more than a possibility. This is something we have instruction to move forward and design.”
The committee voted unanimously to move forward with the plan. The city currently has $2.1 million reserved for the project. Increased funding would require approval from the full city council.
“Right now in Hawrelak Park, there is no water experience that actually lets kids get wet, yet. This could fill that need,” Coun. Ben Henderson said, “and in my mind this seems more creative than just putting in a spray park.”
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