Eastglen Park remains closed until crews can fence off the new underground reservoir, including its associated above-ground vents, access hatches and the pump house.
Acting CAO Simone Wiley told councillors at their April 8 meeting that with the construction fencing now down, signs will soon go up alerting residents to stay away.
The Eastglen Water Tower, a fixture of Westlock’s skyline for nearly 50 years which dominated the south-west side of the park, came down piece by piece Dec. 12-14, 2018, as part of the final phases of the installation of a new underground water reservoir at the site.
The $6.33 million water reservoir replacement project was tendered to Pomerleau Inc. for $4.41 million last February, with $3.14 million coming from the federal Clean Water and Wastewater Fund, $1.7 million from the town’s capital reserves and $284,600 from the Westlock Regional Water Services Commission. The municipality borrowed the remaining $1.2 million to cover engineering services, materials testing and utility servicing and relocations.
“There was some debris left in there, but I believe the contractor has cleaned most of that up,” said Wiley. “There will be signage going up around the park advising the public it’s closed while we finish the landscaping. There’s a lot of landscaping that still needs to be done.”
As it stands the site is muddy and bare, with remnants of the old playground equipment and the basketball hoop. The park’s signature hill, lost during the project, will return, albeit in a different locale.
“They were looking at the hill to see what else can be done so it will be a little more south and west from where it’s located right now so it can a little bit better shaped than what’s been placed there right now. That will happen during the final landscaping stages,” she said.
As for the reservoir fence Wiley said they’re looking into alternatives rather than the standard chain link.
“I have been convinced that the water reservoir needs to be fenced in. Now it won’t be a nice grassy open field where you can throw a ball, but you have giant air-venting tubes so there is a safety concern there and we need to fence it in. But we want it to look nicer than chain link and barbed wire.”
Added mayor Ralph Leriger: “We had hoped that could be double-use space, but if you’ve been convinced than I would suggest we’ve been convinced.”
Repairs to streets around the site are also planned with the heavy equipment now off site.
“The contractor will be providing us with a schedule in the near future of when the repairs in that area will take place. It is in their contract schedule to fix all the damage that was done on the entrance, as well as along the edge of the street where they were parking,” said Wiley.
“It’s not advisable to do that in the near future because there’s still lots of frost so it’s not going to happen for a little bit yet.”
