Summer construction for Speargrass park

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Speargrass Golf Course community may soon have a new recreation area including a play park, new walking paths, a picnic shelter and an off-leash dog park.

Funding has been secured, and construction is slated to start this summer and to open this fall, said Erin Cunningham, Speargrass Community Association secretary.

“We are planning for a July build, and obviously that will depend on the availability of contractors and workers with the current climate of the pandemic and everything – but we are hoping for a September open for the spaces,” said Cunningham.

After being approached through its park and recreation department, Wheatland County council decided to contribute $220,000 to the project as a shared, matching collaboration, said Ward 3 Councillor Donna Biggar. The item was included in the county’s 2020 capital budget after the decision was made to fund the park in July 2019.

The Speargrass Community Association has raised $122,945 for the project, through a $100,000 grant from the provincial Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) and a grant of $22,945 from the non-profit Recycling Management Authority. 

Now that funding is secured, the association can start finalizing more details from the original plans, said Biggar.

The development, sited on Wheatland County reserve land, addresses a lack of outdoor recreation space in the community, said Cunningham. “This is a much-needed area for the community.”

While Speargrass is built around a golf course, only about 30 per cent of residents golf, she said. 

“This provides everyone else an opportunity to get outside and be active,” she said. “Residents will be able to get out and enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle in a way that they can’t now.”

A new pathway will be constructed between the highway and existing gravel access road, on the south side of the development, she said. It will lead to the new recreation area which will be located adjacent to the existing trailer area.

Wheatland County’s contribution to the project is “largely services in kind,” said Cunningham. The county will complete the work required for the new pathways and the parking lot, levelling and grading the recreation spaces, and preparing the playground site, she said.

The features of the recreation area came out of a survey conducted by the Speargrass Community Association in October 2018 to all active members as to what type of recreational developments they wanted.

“It was a pretty mixed bag, to be honest – a lot of people really enjoyed the walking trails and asked for an extension, dog owners were looking for more space, and families wanted a playground and a park,” Cunningham said. “We kind of mixed all of that together and tried to hit as many of the high points as we could.”