MOOSE JAW — City hall plans to dredge Crescent Park’s Serpentine Creek in 2026 to restore it to its original depth, but some on city council want to see that project addressed sooner.
Derek Blais, director of community services, discussed the capital projects his department — which includes parks and recreation — intends to undertake this year during council’s recent 2025 budget meeting.
The one capital infrastructure project in Crescent Park this year is the removal of the paddling pool for $23,630, the budget report said. This venue has been closed since 2020 because of public health requirements and insufficient staffing levels.
“It is a bit of an eyesore now and a lot of maintenance. It’s continually filling with water and needs to be pumped out,” said Blais. “It (also) collects a lot of garbage and different debris … .”
The Crescent Park Foundation is interested in providing funding for a gazebo-type structure with picnic tables on that site, he continued. That initiative could happen next year.
Blais added that the foundation is a separate entity from the city, so city hall has no access to — or knowledge about — its funding.
One capital project that community services has planned in Crescent Park in 2026 is the dredging of the Serpentine Creek for $250,000, something that caught Coun. Patrick Boyle’s eye. He wondered if the action would “measurably improve” that area.
Many of the creek’s issues are because of water quality, so city hall had a hydro survey conducted last year that showed 40 per cent of its holding capacity was filled with sludge and debris, said Blais. This proposed project would dredge over 350 cubic metres and restore the serpentine to its original depth while improving water quality.
Blais noted that the department is working with University of Regina students to improve the serpentine’s water quality and he was eager to see what they developed. In the short term, though, last July, city crews poured biological agents into the water to clear it up. This liquid is used to improve quality in lagoons.
“So we’re hopeful that it’s going to help here … . We’ll be continuing with those treatments in the spring,” Blais said. “It’s fairly low cost (and) something we were able to do in our operating budget. (We) hope that by the hot and dry conditions in July that we see noticeable improvements.”
Coun. Dawn Luhning asked why administration didn’t pull this project into 2025 since this issue happens annually and residents usually ask questions about the water quality.
Funding is the sticking point since not only is $250,000 required to dredge, but $190,000 is needed to repair pathways in Crescent Park that the heavy machines will damage reaching the creek, said Blais. So, the entire project will cost almost $500,000.
Crescent Park is a beautiful green space and a valuable downtown asset, and based on reports, it’s one of the largest in the world by square footage, Luhning said. She thought it would be a sound move by council to enhance this asset soon.
Meanwhile, what concerned her about the capital budget is it pitted projects against each other for importance, pointing to a cricket pitch that the department plans to build this year for $50,000. She would rather direct that money toward the serpentine dredging.
“When you have these facilities, they need to be maintained,” Luhning added. “(But) we get to the point where building new things is going to stretch us even thinner. … we need to start thinking about what we have to maintain and keep going.”
The cricket pitch is a priority project for parks and rec because some residents regularly request it, while they are forced to use baseball diamonds to play, which isn’t ideal since those fields aren’t always available, said Blais.
The department is speaking with cricket players about possible locations and forming a partnership — similar to the pickleball group — where players would contribute money through annual memberships, he added. He planned to present a report about this sometime in Q1.
The next budget meetings are on Jan. 20 and 23.
