Yellowknife (Aug 22/03) - Yellowknife's trail and park system will eventually rival that of any city in Canada, boasts Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

In the works The city's capital budget outlines 10 waterfront projects at a total cost of $583,000 in 2004. Boat Launch/Miramar Con Mine -- Cost: $45,000 Negus Point Park -- Cost: $17,000 to design a park to encompass the old Negus Mine Village, extending down to the shoreline. Woodyard Heritage Waterfront Park -- Cost: $86,000. The park will consist mainly of a dock, gravel path and board walk. There will be some facilities to accommodate houseboat users. Pumphouse Viewpoint & Community Dock -- Cost: $35,000 to build a high rock viewpoint and community dock at the end of 48th Street. Old Town Shoreline Viewpoint -- Cost: $11,000 to provide an observation point in Old Town where people can come to watch and see water activity. There will be some tables, benches, garbage containers, bicycle racks and signage. Back Bay Wetland Park -- Cost: $100,000. Located on the southerly shoreline of Back Bay, development will consist of a few picnic tables, benches, bicycle rack, a floating dock with related access structures, a pump out toilet and a warm up hut for ice skating. Niven Lake/Back Bay Urban Park -- Cost: $5,000 to design a park leading from the Niven Lake subdivision to the shoreline of Back Bay. Woodyard Heritage Park -- Cost: $9,000. Design stage. Willow Flats/Woodyard Wetland Park -- Cost: $268,000. This waterfront park will extend along the Great Slave Lake shoreline from the Dettah Ice Road access up to and including the wetland and the shoreline of the Woodyard area. Development will consist of furnishings, landscaping, parking, boardwalk, pumpout toilet, warm-up hut, a small float dock and signage. Fault Lake/Back Bay Park -- Cost: $7,000. Design stage.

"I would like to see a totally integrated system where you could walk or bicycle or rollerblade just about anywhere and at both the north end and the south end, you could go into wilderness area," Van Tighem said.

Integral to that system is the battered waterfront development scheme.

Council has already backed away from building a public boardwalk on Latham Island and a dock in the woodyard.

The plan for 2004 calls for work on 10 projects worth a combined $583,000.

Now, the city is going back to the public to build support.

Van Tighem said public forums scheduled for next month and later this fall will ask residents for their opinions on specific projects outlined in the city's plan.

"The plan was broken down into eight multiple projects and now each year when we do the budget, we see what we can do," he said.

The plan will then go to council for approval and will become "a general guideline for the next five years," he said.

Public plays role

"Everything is intended to be a huge inclusive public process," Van Tighem said.

"What we have is a very young community and the opportunity to create something and maintain something that is a showpiece."

Van Tighem said trails and parks will be situated in new, undeveloped areas rather than on land that is already occupied.

One major project now underway is Willow Flats/Woodyard Park, also known as Rotary Centennial Waterfront Park. It will be completed in about two years at an estimated cost of $176,000.

Land on Back Bay now being used as a float-plane base is slated to become a marina, he said.

The waterfront management plan is also looking at waterfront access and usage, he said.

Commercial and tourist operators need space, as do recreational operators, he said.

Two node parks on Latham Island are also under construction. The parks are being landscaped. A public dock and launch area for small water craft will be added later, he said.

Since the city's eight-year plan was implemented, Van Tighem said the city acquired a large part of Twin Pine Hill.

"The city in partnership with aboriginal people, went to the territorial government and said we want it for a world-class hotel and the rest will be park," he said.

"So the plan and trail development will probably come onto the radar screen for next year, too."

The Tin Can Hill trail system will depend on Con Mine its lease on the property.

Van Tighem the general plan shows Tin Can Hill as the next logical area for residential development, so it would make sense to begin a trail system soon.

As part of this year's construction, a $48,000 Franklin Avenue walkway is near completion.

A table and waste bins have been added to the McDonald/McMeekan observation point at the Latham Island causeway. The Old Town shoreline viewpoint is also slated for completion at a cost of $13,000.