It was a good year last year at Woodlawn Regional Park with the two parks that are incorporated as one, enjoying near full status on a daily and weekly basis during the peak summer camping period.
Greg Hoffort, chairman of the Woodlawn board of directors, said the mood at the park’s annual general meeting a couple of weeks ago, which included the presence of several seasonal campers, was pretty positive with a good exchange of information and concerns.
It was noted in a previous report that the seasonal camping rate is remaining the same as last year’s at $2,400 which includes two $45 individual park passes.
The park management has also decided to once again offer the former chuckwagon and chariot racing track area for group camping for special events at the park, and as an overflow camp site during week nights. That area of the park has water and electrical services.
Barry Schulte has been hired as ground superintendent this year and Aaron-Lee Soparlo is back as office manager with various maintenance and project crews being hired for the spring, summer and early fall camping season.
Woodlawn Regional Park includes not only the original parkland just south of the city that embraces TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club along the Souris River, but also the newer Boundary Dam location that has the boat launch and beach area at the Boundary Dam reservoir.
“There are no major capital projects on the list this year,” said Hoffort, noting there is a need for the volunteers and park crews to catch their breath following the devastating floods of 2011 and subsequent expansion to the Boundary Dam location and the development of dozens of new camp sites there along with the resurrection of the Souris River camp sites that were directly impacted by the flood waters with several of them being lost due to the erosion of prime park land.
“We’re in good shape with services now,” said Hoffort, referring to the fact that both parks have water, electricity and dump sites along with other amenities such as access to the golf course, boat launch, ball diamonds, children’s play parks, the beach at Boundary and three halls, namely Frehlick Hall, the home for the Souris Valley Theatre, Doug Third Hall for general activities and the Rotary Park Hall … surrounding the Souris River location. In fact, Third Hall played host to the Estevan Gymnastics Club all fall and winter while Frehlick Hall sees plenty of activity around summer theatre camps for kids and the annual adult productions and events staged by the Souris Valley Theatre.
“Our off leash dog park is coming together this spring too. It’s in a free admission area just north of the river on your drive down to the park. I imagine we’ll see it being used by a lot of pet owners this year,” said Hoffort.
While the season camping and entrance rates will remain static, there may be a minimal increase for overnight campers this year, according to the board report.
The annual Beach Bash has been given a green light for the latter part of this summer. It will be held on Aug. 20 and will again feature live music, beach volleyball, water and sand activities for the families, a beer garden, and an evening fireworks display. Last year’s fireworks had to be cancelled at the last minute due to dry conditions that had raised the fire risk in the region.
“The RM of Estevan is busy maintaining the beach road and there will be some ongoing oil resurfacing on the Souris River park, leading into the golf course and camp sites,” said Hoffort.
Communications between the golf course board and the park board remain solid with Ward Tuttle, president of the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course also serving as the liaison to the Woodlawn Regional Park board. “Besides management and staff of both the park and golf course meet regularly to discuss mutual issues such as equipment sharing, operational updates and event schedules,” said Hoffort.
Woodlawn Regional Park enjoyed a fairly successful year on the financial side as well, taking in $806,000 last year compared with $688,000 in 2014. That did reflect a small increase in fees plus revenue from 50 additional campsite that came on stream in 2015 in the early part of the season. Operating expenses in 2015 amounted to $756,000, leaving a tidy surplus that would be applied to startup operations this spring. The expenses in 2014 amounted to $559,000.
With the expansion project completed last year, the Woodlawn Regional Park Boundary Dam location now offers 150 full-service camp sites, while the Souris River location has 143 of those sites plus 30 overflow or group sites available with limited services. Both parks offer a mixture of overnight camping areas as well as the seasonal sites for season-long campers.
