Duff hopes folk festival comes back to Bannerman Park
The City of St. John's is on schedule with construction work at Bannerman Park, with Deputy Mayor Shannie Duff hoping that last weekend's displacement of the annual folk festival will be a one-time affair.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival set up camp over the weekend at Bowring Park in the city's west end, while renovations and upgrades are carried out at Bannerman Park, off Military Road.
The renovations will include an upgraded pool house, a new splash pad and a skating trail that will be finished later this year. Other renovations will be finished next year.
Duff said that while this weekend's festival drew an enthusiastic response in Bowring Park, she hopes the festival will head back to Bannerman next summer.
"We've been putting in underground wiring and talking to them about their requirements, and of course they have a big decision to make now," she said.
"They've just had a successful folk arts festival in Bowring Park, but I think a lot of their fans love Bannerman Park," Duff added.
The Bannerman Park upgrades are being overseen by a non-profit foundation that has been soliciting public donations, with matching support from the city.
Duff said she is particularly excited about the new skating trail, which will be refrigerated and thus able to run regardless of whether snow is on the ground.
"You'll be able to skate from Oct. 31 to hopefully April, and in the summer, it will be good for online skating, or teaching your kids how to ride on their tricycles, or wheeling your stroller," she said.
"It meanders in and around the trees, so I think it's going to be a really beautiful centrepiece for the park."