According to the City of Lethbridge, several new amenities at one of the city’s youngest and largest parks could be ready for use as early as this summer.
Construction began on Legacy Regional Park in 2015 and it officially opened in 2018. Currently, the park is still under construction — but not for long.
“(This year) should see the end of our initial construction of the park,” said parks manager Dave Ellis.
Located near the community of Blackwolf, the park is comprised of 73 acres of land, making it the first major park in north Lethbridge — similar in scale to Henderson Lake Park and Nicholas Sheran Park.
The first new additions residents can expect to see are a community pavilion with a concession, adjacent to an outdoor spray park.
“We’re hoping for some time early summer,” Ellis explained. “The contractors aren’t here quite yet, but we’re hoping that they’re able to finish this up early summer, and so hopefully we get some use out of it this summer.”
Construction on the pavilion is almost complete, with just a few additions left. It also boasts a community room that can be rented for various purposes.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done a community building inside a park,” Ellis said.
“There’s a concession here, there’s washrooms here, it will be kind of the hub (between) the playground and the spray park.”
Booking will be dependent on COVID-19 guidelines for indoor gatherings, and operation of the concession through the ENMAX Centre will coincide with the spray park’s opening, with no exact dates or hours confirmed.
Ellis said construction on the additional playground should begin this spring and be complete by the fall or winter.
“The discovery playground is really going to be unique in Lethbridge in that it’s not a typical playground,” he explained.
“It’s more of a play area for everyone, so we’ve really tried to design this so it’s inclusive to all ages and abilities.”
Two additional picnic shelter facilities are also under construction, which should be complete this year.
In 2020, more residents were heading outdoors, with pathway use up 45 per cent. Ellis said parks likely experienced a similar boom.
“We’re really excited for this to be fully functional, and really start to see the potential of this park particularly.”
Current operational features of the park include a skate park, a playground and challenge course, tennis and pickleball courts, basketball courts, a baseball diamond, a soccer field and more than six kilometres of paved and natural trails.
It’s also home to ponds, ornamental gardens and an amphitheatre.