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Sleeping Beauty rouses crowds Rotary golf tournament Pages 24 and 26 ELKFORD
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Creative Energy Arts Factory dancers stunned the crowds on the weekend with two sold out performances of Sleeping Beauty in Fernie. For more photos visit www.thefreepress.ca. Photo by Jamie Hide
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Fernie’s Whitewater Park moving forward By Andrea Horton Free Press Staff
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Mining WEEK
MAY 13 to 19, 2012
cott Shipley, President of S2o Designs presented to a full house at The Fernie Golf and Country Club at the first Fernie Whitewater Park open house on May 10. The venue was packed w with river enthusiasts and p people with concerns about th project. Shipley, who the w in Fernie May 9 and was 1 to float the Elk River 10 a and assess the likelihood of b building a park on it gave a overview of the project, an s showed slides of his other p projects and answered
questions. According to Shipley the whole section of the Elk that the Whitewater Society is looking at is very homogenous. “There are two or three sites that we are looking at,” said Shipley. “The river has a lot of potential.” The sites that are being considered for the park are the Annex Park, above the West Fernie bridge, below the West Fernie bridge and at the boat launch. Each park is designed to mesh with it’s surroundings, it has to tie in with existing parks as amenities such as parking and washrooms
need to be readily available to park users. The first step is to come up with a concept design, which Shipley will do over the coming weeks. He will assess the sites that have potential, taking into consideration costs and location. With a design in place, the society will pursue funding and permits. After funding and permits are in place the actual construction of the project will take two years. “Scott is one of the premier whitewater park designers in the world today,” said Dan Savage, Fernie Whitewater Society Director. “Our goal
is to cater to everybody, and I think with our great companion Scott Shipley, we can do that. “We want to make this process as open as possible,” said Savage. “We will have more open houses, engage all key stakeholders and make sure that we are not affecting anyone’s lifestyle negatively along the way.” According to Savage the two biggest challenges the society faces is permitting and funding. The estimated cost of the project is between $750,000 and $2 million. City Council has already donated $8,000 and the Regional District of East
Kootenay (RDEK) has donated $2,000 towards the project. For more information please visit facebook/ ferniewhitewaterpark.
Scott Shipley.
Photo by Andrea Horton