There were a few campsites, but no water or sewer, with only 15-amp service, on the east side of the park. Mealy said they started fundraising, made plans and rough drawings to see where items could be placed and made decisions about what they wanted. More campground space would be a priority, taking over the little used golf course.
Grassland Development Officer/Recreation Director Deb Turner said they actually started building in 2020, with eight new full service campsites. Once they were in, with the help of $46,000 from Building Sustainable Communities, the project caught fire. Although COVID was raging at the time, she said it might have been a benefit, as it gave the campground some exposure.
“Everyone was using campgrounds at the time,” Turner explained. “We could remain open. We filled up pretty quick. We were getting a fair few coming that were seasonal, and we really weren’t a seasonal campground up until that. So people were coming for seasonals and then we expanded again.”
Turner added they started from no seasonals to nine the first year, and then moving up to 17 this year.
Ultimately, they expanded the campground with 18 new sites and better services. Sites one through 11 are now 30-amp service with water and can handle larger RV’s. Sites 12 to 19, which are located in what they call the “horseshoe” on the east side, are full service with water and sewer, 30 amp. There are a total of 38 sites presently.
The beach area has been extended, with new sand added. They also purchased playground equipment for two spaces. One is a swing set, with a hole digger and play tractor right by the beach, while another is a slide set further to the north.
They also built new roads to link everything together.
Mealy said they talked to Hartney School, thinking it would be interesting to do a walking trail leading northward, in a lot of area where the golf course had been. Principal Shannon Combs approached a pair of her teachers, Tracey Salamondra and Carla Cooke. Their students did an enormous amount of research on the history of the area, using local museums and interviewing community members. They eventually won a national award for their project, which led to interpretive historical signage being placed around the walking trail. The stories, carried on panels, can be accessed by using the QR code through a visitor’s smart phone. They tell about any number of the historical issues of Elgin and area. There are 22 panels along the trail, and there is solar lighting around it, so people can take the walk when the sun is down.
New docks have been put in on the reservoir, and the recreation department has paddleboards and kayaks they can lend out to visitors.
They have been impressed by the level of support they have received. A provincial grant through the Building Sustainable Communities Fund, and a federal grant through Community Revitalization helped the cause. Turner said between grant and foundation money, they were sitting at around $230,000 in funding. The overall cost of the project was around $350,000, with some coming from the regular budgeting for recreation.
As well as donations, Mealy said there was a fair bit of volunteer work put into the project. She remembers herself and others on the committee going into Winnipeg to pick up vital equipment, while others scraped roads and laid gravel. It was very much a community project. Two members who were vital to the park and the municipality, Blair Woods and Don Arnold have memory benches placed in the park in their honour.
The last addition at this point is the new washroom/shower building, which was part of the federal donation. It is up and they expect it to be completed this year. There are trees that need planting, trail lighting that needs to be completed, and new signage. The municipality continues to look for more grants to help with this and possible continued expansion into the future.
Everything has worked out very well. Mealy said the project is now bringing in a lot of money to the municipality, as the campsites, including the overflow, are booked every weekend throughout the summer. They are looking forward to their “Kickoff to Canada Day” event on June 30, which will feature a live band and fireworks.
“People love it here,” Mealy said. “People come out and paddleboard, it is just so quiet. Anybody that I talk to who regularly camps out here, they just love it.”
“The people in Elgin, they have their own community here,” Turner explained. “They love their park and the love what is happening here. We’re bigger, but not too big.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff