Get a glimpse of new pool at Edmonton City Hall

Officials have been testing out the water system at Edmonton City Hall’s renovated fountain.

More than $13 million was spent upgrading the former wading pool. This is Phase 1 of a two-part project, which will include wood decking that will better serve festivals that use the space.

The budget for both phases of the project is about $17.5 million.

“We ran into a number of ‘unforeseens’ on this site,” project manager Eugene Gyorfi said Monday. “The winter was extremely cold. The spring was extremely wet. So we’re just trying to work to finalize the budget as we finish the project.”

The makeover for the city’s iconic fountain was approved last year and includes resurfacing the fountain pool and surrounding deck. The water depth will be reduced from 40 cm to 15 cm.

The changes were mandated by Alberta Health Services, which had concerns about water flow.

Last week, tests were being done to ensure the water is flowing and draining properly.

Mayor Don Iveson posted a photo of the new feature on Instagram, explaining the new pool is barrier free (with no steps), for both wading and skating.

“We’ve got about 45,000 pieces of granite that have been installed as part of the project,” Gyorfi said on Monday. “We need to work now with our masons and our architects to go through, review, make sure it’s safe for public use.

“We’ve de-roaded 102A Avenue… We now have this continuous connection between City Hall Plaza and Churchill Square. There’s a bit of sand-blasting that needs to be done on the concrete and that needs to be completed over the next couple of weeks and the last bit of granite installation is just occurring on the east side here.

“That needs to be finished up, tested, commissioned, and then turn it over to the public before… We’re looking at third or fourth week of October,” Gyorfi said.