Holyrood mayor excited for ‘fabulous’ festival grounds makeover
By Mark Squibb
As many residents would have likely heard by now, this year’s Squidfest Beach Party will be held not at the festival grounds, but at the Centennial Softball Field on Salmonier Line, in order to accommodate ongoing construction work at the festival grounds.
Mayor Gary Goobie said the upgrades will be well worth it in the end.
“It’s going to be fabulous,” said Goobie. “The design of the whole facility, once it’s redone, is going to be absolutely beautiful.”
The Town contracted Mills & Wright Landscape Architects back in 2017 to redesign both the festival grounds and boardwalk, and work is currently underway with phase two of the project, which will include construction of a new stage and green room, asphalt parking and walkway, construction of a wood deck lookout, new sods, and plants.
Phase one, which was completed in 2021, included rehabilitation of the boardwalk as far as Byrne’s Road, a widened pedestrian bridge, a gateway feature, and sitting areas, while phase three will see the completion of the project.
Council awarded the contract for phase two, which is cost-shared with both the federal and provincial governments, to Weir’s Construction in April for the bid amount of $645,668.
“They’ve been doing a phenomenal job so far,” said Goobie, adding from the reports he’s received the project is on schedule. “I think residents are going to be proud of it, and we did it under a cost shared arrangement so it’s affordable for the town.”
While the festival grounds are already an integral part of the community (you may remember the stir caused some years back when council fielded an application for a microbrewery atop the grounds) Goobie said they will be utilized even more following the upgrades.
“The festival grounds were put there many years ago, and we realized there’s a lot more potential and that they could be utilized a lot more for all residents to enjoy,” said Goobie.
This years ‘Beach-ed’ Party, meanwhile, will take place at the Centennial Softball Field on Salmonier Line on Saturday July 19 and will feature the Irish Descendents, the Navigators, KitchinParti, and Cripple Creek.