Hawrelak Park rehabilitation on schedule and on budget: City

The rehabilitation work on William Hawrelak Park is continuing on schedule and on budget, according to the city.

The project covers extensive work being done across the park, including upgrading electrical systems, repaving park roads and cleaning and grading Hawrelak Lake.

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"When we had to close the park last year it wasn't done lightly, we had to make sure that we addressed this aging infrastructure within this park," Matthew Everett, with the City of Edmonton said.

"The infrastructure within this park was original since its opening in 1967, so it was really time to make sure that we addressed it, to make sure that we address the operational needs of this park, as well as for the festivals and events and the future considerations of the park."

Some of the finished work includes:

• Replacement of deep utility services;
• Construction of the retaining wall along the main pavilion plaza;
• And, installation of electrical infrastructure for pathway lighting.

Other work is continuing and nearing completion, such as pathway paving, rehabilitation of overflow drainage outfalls and landscaping.

Additional upgrades to the park include additional accessible seating in the amphitheater and wired hearing loops for the hearing impaired and accessible all-season washrooms.

While the city is working to improve the water quality of the park lake, such as adding a vegetative buffer, there will not be public swimming available.

"Part of it is due to the budget, part of it is due to having to deepen the lake in order to make sure that it is swimmable," Everett said.

The city does still plan to have triathlon swimming events in the park.

Some interesting discoveries were made by workers during construction, including fossils of bison and dinosaur bones that are currently being cataloged, according to Everett.

TREES IN THE PARK

Throughout the project, advocates have taken issue with the city's plan to remove over 200 trees from the park as part of the process.

• 'More concrete and parking': Critics concerned over Hawrelak Park trees after FOIP request

On Wednesday, Everett told CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha that the city has removed fewer trees than they anticipated.

Everett did not know exactly how many trees had been removed and said the city would be able to share more information when the project is finished.

Hawrelak Park during rehabilitation work on Wednesday Aug. 21, 2024. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)

The city expects work to be finished in late 2025 and for the park to reopen to the public and resume hosting festivals in 2026.

"We worked a lot with our festival partners to understand the needs of what they have on the ground," Juanita Spence, the supervisor of river valley parks and facilities with the city said.

"We have added some infrastructure to support festivals and events, new power access that can be available to them year round.

"We've updated some of the water utilities that support things like Heritage Festival in their operations."

The budget for the planning, design and construction of the rehabilitation project is $134.6 million.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha