engage! - Prairie winds park redevelopment

Your input has helped to shape what the future of Prairie Winds Park will look like. The final Prairie Winds Park Report was approved by Council and detailed design is now underway. Construction for the park redevelopment is targeted to start in 2016.

Preferred Concept Overview

Park Centre Area

Key Moves

· Keep the flexible open green spaces and slopes (toboggan hill, views) and seasonal skating rink.

· Upgrade and expand the existing building with new washrooms and warm up space

· Add seasonal toilets in the SW part of the park near new sports activities

· Remove baseball diamond, keep the soccer field, add a cricket pitch and a basketball court, relocate and upgrade the tennis courts with lights and an potential winter ice rink

· Keep the south playground and make the north play area bigger

· Create a new entry at the northwest corner of the park

· Upgrade walking and jogging paths with gentler slopes, more loops and better access to more areas of the park.

· Provide more seating, picnic shelters and picnic areas

· Retain the existing on-site parking and add street parking along 54 Ave and Westwinds Dr.

· Add fitness stations throughout the park

Prairie Winds Park Preliminary Design Concepts (Phase 2)

Concept #1 – Enhanced Existing

Existing park organization stays mostly the same
Moves tennis courts to provide a better entry and expanded play area
Includes a rebuilt wading pool with a lazy river to provide more appeal for people of all ages
Renovations to the existing amenity building to improve its functionality and accessibility year-round
Removes the creek to provide more bookable picnic shelters

Concept #2 – Expanded Opportunities

Provides more programming opportunities in distinct sub-areas within the park
Includes an athletics zone in the southwest that consists of a cricket pitch, soccer field, tennis courts / hockey rink, sport courts with basketball hoops and toilets.
Includes a family zone with a rebuilt wading pool and a water slide and the recently-completed spray park, a renovated & expanded amenity building, and a large playscape that has a skate path in the winter.
More picnic shelters within a scenic passive-use area in the southeast part of the park
Re-purposes a portion of the creek as a rain garden
Expanded Park Maintenance Yard and reconfigured parking

Concept #3 – Active Centre

Provides a new and convenient arrival/drop-off area with reconfigured parking
A new sequence of plazas that link activities and contribute to a vibrant heart within the park
A series of integrated and nature-based play areas along portions of the old creek alignment
Replaces the existing building with a new central amenity building
Replaces the wading pool with a large water play area
Introduces a bike skills park and parking lot and toilets near the west end of the park
Includes a skate path in winter
Tennis courts and sport courts with basketball hoops in the northeast corner of the park
An expanded Park Maintenance Yard
Includes a series of fitness stations throughout the park

All three of the concepts are designed to:

Maintain or increase the amount of parking on site and add street parking on the south and west sides.
Improve pathways to make it easier to get around in the park
Increase the number of bookable picnic shelters and size of play areas
Improve the park entry
Keep the spray park
Provide a new park entry at the NW corner with improved link to the C-Train Station
Keep the toboggan hill, Grant MacEwan Grove, gazebo, soccer field and flexible open space in the northwest
Provide a lookout area at the top of the mound and a path to get there
Maintain or expand the existing maintenance yard
Remove the old creek
Provide a variety of spaces for different sized events (individual, family, large events/festivals, and everything in between)
Create points of interest that celebrate special places within the park