TIMMINS WAKE PARK - PROJECT **UPDATE**

*OFFICIAL STATEMENT*

Timmins Wake Park Sets Sight on New Location

Date: December 19, 2012

Written by: Johny Bonney

While the lakes and rivers have frozen over and summer remains but a distant memory, I'm still working tirelessly to bring a state of the art wakeboard facility to the city of Timmins.

The idea was originally presented to City Council on October 1^st, 2012. While everyone was very receptive to the project, concerns were raised that Gillies Lake might not be the ideal location for such a facility.

Again, a wake park is like a floating snowboard/skate park on water wherein the rider is pulled from shore to shore by an overhead electrical cable system, thus eliminating the need for a boat.

So in light of the Mattagami River Conservation Authority’s opinion that Gillies Lake would not be the ideal host site for a wake park, the search for a new site became necessary.  Fortunately the abundance of natural waterfront in the city of Timmins provided us with a few more options for a location that could satisfy everyone’s needs and concerns.

Kees Pols, General Manager of the MRCA, and city councilor John Curley, have been very cooperative and proactive throughout this process. By working together, two new sites have been identified and proposed.

The Timmins Wake Park Project is actively seeking to the White Waterfront Conservation Area at Porcupine Lake, as well as the old Uncle Buck’s Trout Farm ponds located on Highway 655 just passed Laforest Rd. Both locations offer their own benefits and advantages, and would be the next best thing to Gillies Lake.

However,there is still a lot of work to be done, but we remain confident that our efforts will come to fruition by July 2013 as scheduled. I will continue to work very closely with the MRCA, the city of Timmins, and the community in order to the find the best possible location for a wake park. I invite anyone with questions, comments, or concerns to please forward them to me directly at bonney.jonathan@gmail.com. 

Thank you.