By Chris Conway

As the extended deadline for completion of hard surfaces at Invermere’s Cenotaph Park passed, the work was again behind schedule this week

District of Invermere chief administrative officer Chris Prosser promised council on May 12 that although the hard surfaces would not be completed for the initial deadline of the May long weekend, that work would be completed by the end of May, allowing time for landscaping to be done in early June.

At the May 12 council meeting Councillor Al Miller brought forward the concerns of downtown business operators. “They’re certainly showing a lot of concern,” said Miller at the meeting. “Their bottom lines have dropped. There are only so many days in this valley that you actually make a profit and it can make or break a business.”

“We are still targeting for all the hard surfacing to be done by May 31 at the latest,” Prosser responded. “That’s been their commitment with the revised schedule provided last Friday (May 8). They should be going full-tilt there should be no holding back right now.”

Prosser told council that the landscaping was scheduled for early June, explaining that once the hard surfaces are installed, Mac-Neil Landscaping will be ready to commence installing turf and trees, while planting of annuals and grasses will be done by municipal work crews.  According to the revised project schedule that work was mean to be largely complete by mid-June.

Mayor Gerry Taft acknowledged the downtown business operators concerns but asked for their patience. “If the hard surfaces are done by the end of May I think we can live with that but we don’t want to see that extend any further,” said Taft on May 12. “This has dragged on for longer than we want and I do feel sympathy for those businesses that have had some restricted access.”

The revised hard surfaces deadline came and went last Sunday (May 31).  On Tuesday, June 2 installation of footpaths and edges through the park was underway but still far from complete. The landscaping installation cannot begin properly until the concrete surfaces have been poured and allowed to dry.

Less than three weeks now remain until the opening day for the downtown Farmer’s Market on June 20 and the official start of the busy summer season.

Neither the mayor nor district staff responded to a request for a project update by the end of the day on Tuesday, June 2.

Above photo: Max Helmer Construction workers pouring concrete at the Invermere Cenotaph Park on June 1. By Chris Conway

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