Huntsville’s Lions Lookout could look rather different this time next year.
Tarmo Uukkivi, Director of Operations and Protective Services for the town, says staff are charting out several options to power and heat the year-round space.
“The basics that we would be considering are things like changerooms and washrooms,” says Uukkivi. “Again, only considering those. [They] would require the use of power, water, and sewage, which would need to be brought up there. It depends on what the outdoor space is going to be used for.”
Uukkivi says the lookout already has a number of different uses, such as a winter skating rink, as well as a year-round maintained walking track where the Trillium Lakelands District School Board hosts track-and-field events.
Staff’s current recommendation to council is a large power supply which costs roughly $300,000, which Uukkivi says would largely future-proof the park.
“That would supply anything we put up there in the future,” says Uukkivi. “So without knowing what services or amenities were going to be considered by council for Lions Lookout, we were recommending we put the largest service in there. That way, there’s no added cost down the road to upgrade.”
According to Uukkivi, the plan is to get feedback from residents and other users of the lookout to inform what the space will turn into long-term.
“That’s what we’re trying to develop,” says Uukkivi. “Right now, it’s fairly open-ended. There have been a number of different concepts brought forward by interested parties, and council is now looking at developing that vision for what that space could become.”
Uukkivi says there’s still quite a bit of work to be done before they can start taking ideas. However, he says staff will come back to council in March with a few options, and the public engagement should start soon after.