Hard work is finally paying off for the Waskasoo Community Association as they celebrated the ground breaking ceremony of the new Waskasoo gazebo July 21st.
Board President of the Association Darcy Garrett said the project started with the community plan the City of Red Deer performed for the community of Waskasoo.
“There was a lot of community input into the plan. We had a lot of great input,” said Garrett.
The gazebo cost just over $100,000 and the Province funded half at just over $51,000.
The project is part of the community plan that went to council and was approved as part of the area redevelopment plan that was done at the concurrent time.
“The community plan identified this park as being very under utilized and the need for these community gathering spaces, so we got the gardens underway with some support from the City with funding.”
They had the plan of building the gazebo or some structure to act as a meeting place and decided it would be a good way to move forward with the redevelopment of the park.
“We’re not only building a gazebo but we’re harvesting the water off the roof to feed the garden and when that is completed we’ll be moving into funding a redevelopment of the remaining park space.”
He added they will be looking at building an actual playground there as well.
Garrett said they are hoping for the gazebo to be built by September, but are still waiting on the building permit.
“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” he said.
Kim Schreiner, MLA for Red Deer North was at the ceremony on behalf of the Province to present a cheque of over $51,000 to the Waskasoo Community Association. The money is part of the Community Facility Enhancement Program Grant.
“It is because of projects such as this that CFEP was created. This program assists in empowering local citizens and community organizations to work together and respond to our local needs,” said Schreiner.
“Projects such as your gazebo are initiated by the community, supported by the community and will make a difference in the lives of Alberta’s third largest City’s residents.”
