Works begins on the new longboard park in Aberdeen, which is part of the new West Highlands Parks.

(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - The retaining wall is in and the fencing nearly complete and now crews are ready to work on the actual soccer field portion of the new Aberdeen park.

City Project Supervisor Nick DeCicco says if everything goes smoothly then the soccer fields could be complete with turf and irrigation by the fall, which is about a year behind schedule.

“We’re still moving forward and we still have a plan,” DeCicco says. “It’s just going a lot slower than anticipated. We’re about a year behind.”

Most of the delays have come from gathering more information and doing studies to address issues with things like drainage but DeCicco says the budget is still intact because so little work has been done.

“We haven’t spent any extra budget money because we haven’t done any work,” he says, adding work is finally moving forward.

Crews completed the retaining wall near the east soccer field and parking lot earlier this summer and once the fence screen is completed and the manholes put in a subgrade and final grade will be done on the two soccer fields.

The fields will then be outfitted with big roll turf, 4’ by 100’ rolls, that goes down quickly. If it all goes as planned DeCicco says teams will be able to start using the fields in the spring.

“Once we can start the work it will go real quickly,” he notes. “You will see changes fast.”

The city still plans on starting work on converting the old clubhouse to a community centre this fall and winter and are planning to use in house workers where possible to save some money. The plan is to have the clubhouse ready for spring 2015 as well.

While he says the hope is to get in some pathway lighting this year that may wait until next year when they complete work on the entrance way and parking areas, as well as other landscaping and enhancements.

In the more southern part of West Highlands, just behind Pacific Way School, work on the new longboard park is also underway. DeCicco says the surveying has been done and it should be ready for paving by the end of the summer.

He says much of the work will be done internally on the longboard park because nothing has been built like it before.

“It’s nothing that’s been built before, there’s no real standards or specifications set out,” he says. “We need to make sure it meets certain types of requirements. That’s why we’re doing it internally.”

The new park, which has taken over the former Aberdeen golf course, will also feature walking trails and natural space.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014