By Cecilia Nasmith

A process to update the Victoria Park Campground – awarded this week to Northern Lights Landscape Architect in the amount of $215,240 – includes the Centennial Pool property in its scope of study.

At this week's committee-of-the-whole meeting, council received the report from Manager of Recreation and Waterfront Operations Teresa Behan describing the work as consulting and designing the renewal of recreation infrastructure.

“The scope of work includes evaluating the Centennial Pool site (building, pool, parking lot) to assess whether or not the pool site would benefit from integration/collaboration with the campground facility,” Behan's report said.

The Waterfront Plan recommends maintaining the campground in its current location, with “updates to help improve its functional layout, appearance and overall attractiveness, upgrade buildings, replace infrastructure/services and reduce its visual and operational impact on the rest of the waterfront.”

The 3.8-acre lot consists of 43 trailer sites with hydro water and sewer, 28 trailer sites with hydro and water, and five unserviced tent sites. Each season it attracts thousands of guests from near and far, although its infrastructure – washroom building, sewer lines, power sources – are aging and need renewal.

“This is an exciting first step in replacing the infrastructure in the Victoria Park Campgrounds,” Director of Community services Brian Geerts told council.

“We will be analyzing the combination of the land use of the pool with the campground to evaluate if there is any benefit to redesigning an improved way of operating the facility so we can optimize both facilities.”