Let’s give credit where credit’s due, and we’re not being paid to say this. But the folks at the City of Castlegar behind the decision to go ahead with the Millennium Ponds project ought to be feeling pretty good about now – and all the better if sizzling hot weather should hold up.
The City has just put out the official word of the August 4 Grand Opening of the three river-fed swimming pools at Millennium Park. Work on the project began early last year.
How does the expression go? ‘Dig it and they will dip?’
Only time will tell how this municipal enhancement ultimately goes over, but how can you miss by boosting the odds of locals and visitors having a good time?
All infrastructure and civic business is important to a community and no one here is suggesting anything unflattering about pothole repair, zoning amendments or tweaking to the board of variance… but they just seem a little… dry.
How many times have you driven past Christina Lake in the summer and thought to yourself… ‘I bet there’s a lot of fun happening here today.’
That’s it in a nutshell. The free-admission ponds won’t pay for themselves (cost projections are about $1.6M) but the community will likely benefit in other ways – most importantly, by encouraging some residents to stick around in the summer, and giving visitors positive memories of Castlegar. . The ponds will be free to use. The issue has been covered fairly well since 2011 when the planning process began.
