Parkland County considers redevelopment of Hasse Lake

PARKLAND COUNTY -- Parkland County continues to explore plans for the redevelopment of Hasse Lake.

The Hasse Lake Recreational Area is a municipally owned amenity located in the heart of the County. The main features of the park include a network of trails dispersed in a forested area and an open water lake. County staff say the purpose of the redevelopment project is to develop a vision for a long-term strategy to improve the area and create a concept plan that strikes a balance between human use of the site and ecological protection.

At their meeting on Mar. 24, Council approved $120,000 for the detailed design and cost of phase one of the project. Brandon Sidhu, Director of Community Services, discussed what this portion of the project will entail.

"Phase one is intentionally scoped as an asset prevention and risk management response, not entirely an expansion project," said Sidhu. "It focuses on infrastructure that is at, or beyond its service life, including the washroom building, the playground surfacing, trails and wayfinding, docks and lake access, and day-use furnishing."

Sidhu says the $120,000 in costs associated with phase one represents about 12 per cent of the current phase one estimate. He adds that recent public engagement sessions have seen a high amount of confidence in improvements at Hasse Lake. 

"Approximately 93 per cent of respondents support some level of improvement," said Sidhu. "The highest ranked priorities were trails, washrooms, docks, and shoreline improvements, which are all addressed in phase one. Advancing to detailed design demonstrates that the County is responding thoughtfully and transparently to what residents have told us." 

There are currently two design options being explored for the area. Option one includes several tasks, including the replacement of the existing washroom building, enhanced day use, an additional fishing dock near the playground area, increases to the existing playground to remain with surface improvements, and more.

Option two would include a new fish cleaning station with running water, an additional fishing dock near playground area, four additional washroom buildings, small business opportunities, rentable glamping/campsite sites, a new swim pond with a sandy beach area, among others.