Silver Lake construction project set to wrap-up in new year
The completion date of a multi-million dollar construction project at Silver Lake in Waterloo Park has been pushed back further after it was supposed to be finished this past summer.
One Laurier student who has frequently visited Waterloo Park for as long as she can remember, isn’t pleased by the news.
“We do come here quite often. I came to the splash pad when I was little, and we would always come to the little Christmas fair,” said Ella Annis. “It’s been a little bit of an issue for my friends. I just because we try to take a break from our school work, and come on our walks but a lot of the park has been restricted right now.”
The three phase project at Silver Lake started up three years ago to see Laurel Creek restored, the lake cleaned out and rehabilitated and the north and south shores revitalized.
Pedestrian features are now visible in some areas, including the LRT deck expansion and boardwalk structure. But construction continues along the north shore with the goal of rehabilitating the park.
“We’re just finishing things up, but there’s a new plaza area that’s centered around a central fountain feature, new lighting, just bringing the park up to a more usable and all-inclusive space,” said Caroline Amyot, senior project engineer with the City of Waterloo.
But Amyot says construction crews dealt with some setbacks, one of which was COVID supply chain delays.
“We are planning to wrap things up hopefully before Christmas and have the fences down to open up some areas.”
In January 2022, the revitalization hit another setback after the previous contractor failed to meet the safety standards of the boardwalk building contract.
Waterloo City Council approved the budget for the project, set at over $7 million.
“The project obviously isn’t finished, and we’re still working through matters, so at this point, we’re still working towards that council approved budget,” said Amyot.
After the revitalization of the north shore, the city says their main focus for the Spring will be landscaping.
“There will be some finishing up to do in the Spring with some landscaping as well as some lighting. The main fountain feature will need to be opened up officially in the Spring, so there’s still some work to do, but it won’t require the park to be shut down,” explained Amyot.
Meantime, Annis is looking forward to the full re-opening of the park.
“I am definitely hoping so just so we can have the park for our mental health and just going on nice walks, especially as the weather gets warmer,” she said.
Fencing will remain up with no public access to the north shore until the teaming work is completed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.