David Wilks, Sparwood Mayor, took the time to reflect on how the District handled 2020, with important projects being completed and progress made on others.
Wilks said the year has been good for the community, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All things considered, with regards to COVID-19, I think the District of Sparwood did very well this year, we got a lot of projects done that we wanted to get done, regardless of COVID. Most of all, the citizens of Sparwood were just amazing through all of this starting in March,” said Wilks.
Early in the year, residents were invited to decide on the redesign of Centennial Square, with construction slated to begin in the new year.
“In 2020, we advanced with most of the grants we wanted to try and get, we were successful with some, not with others. We’ve applied for two other grants, one through the federal government, one through Columbia Basin Trust, and hopefully, we’ll be successful with those. Regardless, we will move forward with the removal of the cement in Centennial Square and start to get into a more usable space for 2021,” said Wilks.
The District was sent back to the drawing board, however, as the public did not have a particular interest in either initial design.
“We created, basically, a usable flat space with lots of grass, lots of trees, lots of seating areas and we went back to the original concept of a bandstand, which we will build at the west side of Centennial Square,” explained Wilks.
More: Sparwood Set to Discuss Centennial Square Redesign at Winter Street Party (Feb. 6, 2020)
In March, Sparwood brought Well #4 online, which Wilks said was a much-needed infrastructure project in the community.
“We’re happy with its progress so far, it does have a few minor deficiencies that have to be completed, but having said that, we’re happy with it so far and look forward to having it give us many years of operational use,” said Wilks.
More: Sparwood Brings Well #4 Online (March 10, 2020)
The community has also partnered with Teck to try out some new methods of keeping the coal dust down around Sparwood.
“We’ve worked very well with Teck, they’ve come up with some very innovative solutions to try to minimize the dust,” said Wilks. “Teck was also very progressive this year with washing a lot of homes. I believe they did just over 250 homes this year, that was a proactive measure by Teck and we thank them for that.”
More: New solution could be solution to Sparwood coal dust (Sept. 4, 2020)
Sparwood’s Recreation Master Plan caused some contention in the community in 2020.
“It caused some angst with the public when we brought forward a new multiplex and the potential of using an area we already had, which was the Curling Club. Unfortunately, there was some mixed messaging from Mayor and Council that we truly apologize for,” Wilks said to MyEastKootenayNow.com. “We want to ensure the Curling Club would stay in place for years to come, so we will continue on with looking at how we’re going to create a new multiplex.”
Wilks added that finalizing a plan for a new multiplex will likely come in 2021 or 2022.
More: Sparwood’s Recreation Master Plan opens for public comment (Nov. 5, 2020)
Despite the ups and downs of the year, Wilks is optimistic about what 2021 holds for Sparwood.
“I’m very happy we have a vaccine coming, so that will help a lot for those who want to take the vaccine. Come by July or August, I’m hoping that whatever the new normal is, that’s what we’re back to and it’ll allow people to do a little more traveling, which is what people are used to around here. I Think that all things will be good in 2021,” said Wilks.