Village of Pemberton manager of recreation services Christine Burns was on hand at the April 26 regular council meeting to present the recreation services department’s 2022 first quarter report to mayor and council.
Due to the provincial health orders still in place at the start of the year, as well as the colder-than-usual spring that saw snow on the ground until late March, the community’s outdoor activities have been slightly delayed to start the year, Burns said.
According to Burns, recreation services has been monitoring the outdoor soccer field since the end of March. Currently, there is still standing water on the field, but there are plans in place to get a contractor out as soon as possible to open up parts of it for recreation.
Unfortunately, due to its young turf and the need for some reseeding, having the field in use too early could stunt grass growth and result in further damage to the field by June and July.
However, as long as the weather cooperates, it is expected the field will be ready for full use by May 15.
VOP operations manager Tom Csima joined in at the end of Burns’ presentation to give an update on the construction of the Bike Skills Park.
While he said he doesn’t want to over commit to an opening date, Csima believes the VOP is looking good to reach its targeted June start date. However, similar to the soccer field, the poor weather so far this spring has delayed the start of the work and could result in the park opening in July instead.
But progress has been made and the pump track is almost complete, according to Csima, while the laying of the park’s asphalt is planned to get underway next week.
Recognizing the community’s excitement for the park to be completed, Csima urges people not to go check out the park or attempt to ride it before it is open, as it is still a busy active construction site and the features may not be safe to ride yet.
However, residents can get a good view of the progress being made by looking down on the site from the Sunstone development up the hill, said Csima.
