Kingsmeade park officially opens

A little chill was no big deal at the long-awaited official opening of Kingsmeade Park on Sunday afternoon.  

St. Albert’s first all-season park space, Kingsmeade Park, includes a nature-themed playground area, walking trails, a heated “social hub,” and a multi-court sport area. During the official opening on Sunday between 1 and 4 p.m., attendees climbed on the play structure, snowshoed, curled on the boarded outdoor skating rink, and interacted with Trail Tails, St. Albert Public Library’s mobile storytelling initiative. 

Members of city council, St. Albert’s park department, and general site contractor Wilco, kicked off the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, as park-goers enjoyed hot chocolate, donuts, and cookies, as well as music from throwback brass band the Brasstactics.

Addressing the crowd, Mayor Cathy Heron recalled a time when a student at Keenooshayo Elementary school highlighted the lack of park space in the Kingswood neighbourhood. 

“That was in 2010,” Heron said. “Since then, we’ve tried very hard as a council to get this up and running.”

Heron said acquiring land for the park was the “biggest hurdle” for council. Council initially moved to expropriate the 7.25-hectare parcel of land — owned by Canterra Developments — in 2019. 

The pursuit could have been costly; in September of 2012, the city evaluated the land at $27 million. A year later, however, St. Albert reached an agreement with Canterra to acquire a smaller, 2.3-hectare portion of the land, free of charge. 

In 2021, a second boon arrived in the form of $2.5 million from the federal government towards the project’s $3.9-million total cost.

Heron said former councillor Ray Watkins’s experience as a developer was instrumental in guiding council as they pursued the land over the years. Watkins served as a councillor from 2017 to 2021. 

Speaking at the opening, Watkins thanked the council of the day for their trust when he said he wanted to pursue expropriation. 

“Even though my sons … have all left the house, I know we have plenty of generations of kids that will certainly enjoy this park,” Watkins said. “I hope residents enjoy the park today and in the future.”

Manda Wilde, parks development project manager for the city, said in an interview Monday the opening saw a “fantastic turnout,” with a ballpark of around 300 to 400 people in attendance throughout the event. 

Wilde said it was rewarding to see people interacting with the park’s various elements. 

“We put a lot of effort into engaging a variety of ages, knowing the community is quite diverse and the kids are a little bit older, generally speaking,” Wilde said. 

The strong turnout in winter bodes well for the all-season design of the park, Wilde said. 

“It’s really cool to have a site where we really wanted to bring that four-season use, and actually seeing it in the middle of winter is awesome,” Wilde said.