Restoration and repairs at Collingwood’s Sunset Point are nearing completion and town staff plan to reopen the park to the public again soon.
Dean Collver, now the acting director of customer and corporate services, sang the praises of Seeley and Arnill Construction, the company undertaking the repair and restoration work at the park. He said the company was able to complete the work and extra restoration work within the existing budget.
“We hope to re-open on June 1,” said Collver, noting that date was also dependent on “cooperative” weather.
The shoreline of Sunset Point was damaged In October 2019. With high water levels, a fall storm pushed violent waves against the shore and caused significant erosion. The base of the Inukshuk was partially washed way.
The waves threw rocks and debris several metres into the park from the shore.
In November 2019 another rain and windstorm caused even more damage to the park, shoreline and Inukshuk. While town staff had placed some fill in the area as a temporary stop-gap measure, it was not enough to protect the shore from the storm.
Town staff were on site the next day piling rocks at the base of the Inukshuk structure, and Collver was working with a shoreline engineer to come up with a repair and restoration plan.
Council approved the engineer’s plan at the end of 2019, but the town had to wait for provincial permits before beginning the work.
When COVID-19 hit and a state of emergency was declared by the province, the town had not yet obtained provincial permits for shoreline work at Sunset Point.
In April 2020, another storm hit causing even further damage along the shoreline.
By the end of April this year, staff had closed Sunset Park and trail to the public due to flooding, erosion, and damage.
Collver said crews have been on site for a “few weeks” now, and the repair work does include fixing the damage that was done last fall and this spring.
