The District of Squamish is investigating if they can reduce the amount of water usage for the planned splash park at Brennan Park.
At the July 9 committee of the whole meeting, District director of facilities planning and construction Kal Bragg, revealed the muni was looking into the costs of a recirculating system, which would see the park use recirculated water instead of potable.
The splash park project is currently running behind schedule, with Bragg noting it had been purposefully moved into 2025 due to issues with meeting the $1.8 million budget.
“For the splash pad and playground, we are over time on this, and this one is on purpose because … the numbers we were getting in were exceeding the budget that we had allocated for this project,” Bragg said.
“We’ve moved the project into 2025. The current work at the moment is that we’re redoing the Class C budget … we are also looking at a recirculating system to increase the sustainability of the project itself so it reduces water over time.”
According to the U.S. National Recreation and Park Association, “larger aquatics facilities rely on recirculation systems to keep the water clean. They use a series of tanks and pipes to supply water, then capture that same water and convey it to a collection tank where it is treated so it can be safely reused.”
Bragg explained that most splash parks in B.C. have a “flow-through effect” which results in a high litre usage of potable water.
“We’re obviously very environmentally conscientious, and there is a way that we can save water and that’s using a recirculating system,” he said.
“Recirculating systems cost more and … it’s not a standard process that a lot of other splash parks in B.C. have done before. I think there’s only one or two that have done them before.
“However we are quite comfortable that other municipalities and councils and districts are in the same boat where the next splash parks that they create, they’re going to have to look at some sort of water saving.
“So the situation we’re looking at now is we are just juggling the cost of the recirculating system compared to the budget that we’ve got and what the returns are at the end of the day,” Bragg said.
There were also updates on other large projects across the Squamish district.
Fire Hall 2
The new Tantalus fire hall, long-awaited after previous repairs to the aging fire hall at that location left it held up by exterior metal posts for years, is almost done.
Despite running two months behind schedule on this project, the municipality is set to complete the District’s Fire Hall No. 2, in “about two weeks”.
“We are very, very close to getting final occupation on this project,” Bragg said.
“The current work includes storage lockers being installed, interior finishes being finalized and that includes the lighting fit out as well as landscaping.”
The final steps include signage being installed and fitting out the interior with furniture.
Brennan Park Recreation Centre
Phase one of the Brennan Park Recreation Centre project, budgeted at $20.5 million, is on time and on budget, with the completion of this particular phase set to be at the end of 2025.
The project is being supported by an $11.7 million Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program grant from Infrastructure Canada.
The demolition of the changing rooms has begun, as well as preparation on the customer administration site.
Bragg explained the next steps of the project will be to start the construction work for the customer service building and lobby and “getting the real renovation works happening.”
The District is currently moving through the process with the grant supplier for Stage 2 of the project.
Valleycliffe Childcare
The childcare centre, budgeted for $3.3 million, is on schedule and set to be completed by 2025.
About a year ago, an archaeological find slowed the project down.
“As archaeological materials were identified during this pre-construction assessment, the District is applying for a Site Alteration Permit as required in order to move forward with the development project,” said District spokesperson, Rachel Boguski, in an email to The Squamish Chief in June of last year.
“All permit requirements will be followed for heritage protection in accordance with the Heritage Conservation Act.”
The District said that, as per the Heritage Conservation Act, specific information, such as what was found and its exact location, was not available to the public.
Currently, however, the building is under permit and concrete has been poured in the footings.
“The archaeological work is complete, which is another high-risk area, but it’s good to know we’ve moved through that process as well,” Bragg said, noting that
“The next step is to backfill and start the flooring prep and really start to pursue the construction and framing of the building.
~With a file from Andrew Hughes/The Squamish Chief
