Hawrelak Park expected to open on time this winter: city officials

Edmonton's Hawrelak Park is on track to reopen this winter. CTV News Edmonton's Gates Guarin takes a tour.

Crews are putting the finishing touches on Hawrelak Park’s rehabilitation ahead of its reopening this winter.

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Left to do is some landscaping along the new lakefront pathway, plus facility interiors and operating systems.

The city has not yet announced an opening date, but an official confirmed it would be this winter.

“We’re really excited about showcasing this park,” said Matthew Everett, general supervisor for the city’s facility infrastructure delivery.

Hawrelak Park, which officially opened under the name Mayfair Park in 1968, closed for rehabilitation in March 2023.

Since then, crews have replaced or upgraded many of its aging features, including:

• reshaping and regrading the pond, which also saw a platform added for triathlon events;
• adding an accessible lakefront path with fireplaces and seating;
• renewing the main pavilion, picnic shelter and boathouse facilities;
• adding playground features and rubber flooring;
• adding accessibility features to the washrooms and amphitheatre, including hearing loops and ramps to and from the stage and green room; and
• moving parking spaces from along the entrance road to the parking lot and creating a mixed-use path separate from vehicle traffic.

Each day, as many as 150 people were working at the site.

“The biggest challenge around this project was really incorporating the work in a three-year period,” Everett said.

Alternatively, the city could have kept the park partially open while completing the work over 10 years.

“Because the park is so beloved, we want(ed) to make sure that we had a real plan to address all of the deep infrastructure in year one. And so during the first year, there was a lot of deep utility work that happened – so, a lot of the storm, sanitary sewer work, mechanical, electrical… Then we were able to fill those back in, and then work on grading, the landscaping, and then work on the facility.”

In total, the project will cost $134.5 million.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Gates Guarin, Dave Mitchell and Hannah Kavanagh