Well here we are at Blossomfest again this weekend and it appears many of the blossoms are cooperating. It’s an interesting time of year as you can still see snow on the mountains but probably have mowed your lawn a few times by now. You suffer in the heat of mid twenty degrees because you haven’t quite acclimated to the temperatures you know are coming plus you might have to actually put a fire on or bump the furnace because the house has gotten too cool.
Around the Creston Valley, we have a myriad of activities and you will probably find a schedule elsewhere in the issue of the Creston Valley Advance as well as on www.blossomfestival.ca. Wow! There are a lot of activities and something for everyone including all the families that come to visit and the tourist crowd. Here at the Community Complex, we will see the SD#8 Youth Pow Wow in the arena on Friday which is really cool to come and watch plus over the weekend we will see a Crossfires Soccer Tournament, Creston Wave Swim Club Annual Duck Race, a Free Swim sponsored by Success by Six and of course the Annual Blossomfest Run out at Canyon Park. The activities here are just the tip of the iceberg of all the events happening in our Valley.
At the most recent regular project meeting of the Community Park, we are starting to see substance forming; like a cruise ship coming slowly out of a fog bank (I had contemplated using either an oil tanker or the Titanic in my example but reconsidered for obvious reasons) For those that haven’t been involved with an intricate construction project (reminiscent of the Facility Enhancement project for instance) the amount of detail is staggering. We went through 32 sophisticated construction drawings focused mainly on the Skatepark which are about 50% to 75% complete as we head towards final biddable construction drawings. The surrounding areas have to be addressed as part of the process as pathways, retaining walls, shrubberies and social areas all have to be mapped out in clear detail.
The stuff you won’t necessarily see will be items like drainage, underground electrical/security considerations, service relocates, watering provisions for plantings or cleaning and all the ground prep required before you start building. I’m not sure if you remember the pool construction for instance but we went a lot further down than the deepest part of the lap pool and started building up with engineered fill in compacted layers with each lift of fill being tested and certified as meeting the required specification.
As we did with the Enhancement Project in 2008 – 2010, we will endeavor to get a regular flow of info to places that you can check into and see what’s happening whether it is a website or newspaper article or a project board in the lobby. It’s all super interesting and an eye-opener that you just don’t throw up a building, park or pathways without a huge investment in planning by the professionals that do this for a living (don’t try this at home) to ensure your investment remains standing strong for decades to come.