The restoration work on the Souris Avenue North medians has wrapped up.
City of Estevan parks manager Rod March said the final component of the project was to plant the flowers. They faced some struggles initially, due to the wet weather, but now they are doing better.
“I think next year we might put a few more planters on that south end, just to spice it up a bit, but for now the objective that I was trying to achieve is complete.”
The medians look great, he said, thanks to the Allan Block paving stones around the perimeter of each median, coupled with the fresh sod and the flower planters. The planters won’t hinder the line of site for traffic, either.
The project wasn’t overly expensive, and March predicts it could be carried over to other areas of the city.
The affected medians are from King Street to Edwards Place.
The Allan Blocks will also be added to the entrance of the Royal Heights Veterans’ Memorial Park once the paving of the pathway is finished, and he has spoken to council about incorporating them for the triangle at the intersection of King Street and Kohaly Avenue.
The refurbishment work at King Street and Kohaly Avenue will likely happen at some point in the future.
“We’re looking at different areas around the city where it’s front and centre, and sort of creating that same theme all the way through,” said March.
March believes the medians reflect the city’s future direction for beautification efforts, and he stressed these efforts are not just happening because of the upcoming 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games.
“Carrying forward, this theme of decent work that’s nice looking, (with an emphasis on) beautification and good grass, we’re going to carry that theme forward, and I think it just shows where we’re going for the future,” said March.
A final cost for the median refurbishment has not been tabulated.
Meanwhile, the closure of the Royal Heights Veterans’ Memorial Park is going to last longer than originally anticipated. It was supposed to be shut down from June 6 to 24, but now it appears it won’t be open until at least July 3.
March blamed the extended closure on recent thunderstorms that brought heavy rain to Estevan.
“That park is really wet right now,” said March. “We had equipment in there last week just to try to tear up the pathway. All the trees are planted as per the schedule. But when starting the pathways, it got extremely wet with the amount of rain we had. So we had to pull out of there.”
The new spray park inside Royal Heights is completed and will be operating once Royal Heights is finished. They have also planted about 55 large trees in the park. While those trees have encountered excess moisture, they have been properly staked, mulched and fertilized, and March said the trees are doing well.
“If we keep getting these heavy rains, it’s going to delay it even longer.”
The pathway is the final component of the park to be completed.
March is urging people to stay out of the park, and to respect the barricades.
The contractor has been able to work on other pathway projects in the city, while waiting for Royal Heights to dry out, including the one for Churchill Playpark, and the extension of the pathway that runs parallel along Woodlawn Avenue South from Cactus Park to Westview Place.
Padwick Park, which is Estevan’s newest park, has opened for the season. It opened last year, and March said it has proven to be very popular, thanks to its splash park and its other amenities.
