The City of Flin Flon and an architecture firm held their first public meeting on a proposed master plan for the Flinty Campground last week. The proposal is big, bold and could mean a massive overhaul for the area, pending more planning.
Ranging from creating new parking lots and amenities to potentially doubling the size of the campground, building a boardwalk and trail system through the woods and even putting a pedestrian footbridge over part of Highway 10, new ideas are all over the report, put together by Winnipeg-based architectural consulting firm Urban Systems. Representatives from Urban Systems and City of Flin Flon development staff unveiled the plan at a public meeting Nov. 28, where reactions to the proposed changes were mixed.
Not every idea mentioned will be built or even considered formally by the City. The plan itself is still in draft form - no cost or time estimates have yet been released, as City executive staff have not yet determined which ideas will and won’t be pursued.
The plan, as unveiled, would involve five zones, starting at the park’s entrance off Highway 10A near Walmart and running back through the campground, toward the Blueberry Jam Music Gathering space, back toward the Rotary Wheel and ending toward the park’s Dadson Row entrance.
Changes for Zone 1, as the plan currently stands, would include a larger parking lot in the front of the Flin Flon Station Museum, a main gateway sign for the campground, an outdoor interpretive site and outdoor museum signage. Of note is part of the zone’s plan around the west portion of the zone, where several historical pieces of mining and rail equipment are currently located - one proposed change would put a mini-golf course around the area, possibly incorporating the new touches around those pieces of equipment. Other plans might involve the vehicles, as well as the Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant Radisson canoe, being moved elsewhere on the site.
Zone 2 would extend into the campground proper and would include an interpretive centre working as a larger or extended Flin Flon Tourist Bureau, a courtyard and picnic space, more interpretive signage and two larger, ambitious projects - a structure meant to be used as a shade circle and a path extending from the campground to the swampland below, near Highway 10, which would include a small boardwalk jutting out over the swamp itself.
Perhaps the most radical proposals are in Zones 3 and 4. A new road would be built as part of Zone 3 that would move the main north-south route through the campground from the west side of the Blueberry Jam stage to the east, currently occupied by rock and trees. Where the current road is would be a larger festival space for the Jam, along with a built toboggan slope, similar to the slide-like structure used in Winnipeg for Festival du Voyageur. Also mentioned as part of the Zone 3 proposal were a sky net viewing and children’s play structure, a playground, a splash pad and a small park called a “communal gathering node” by Urban Systems.
The presentation included concept images and rendering of similar structures - something City recreation director Caitlin Bailey said would not always resemble what the items would look like on-site if built.
“All the visuals that are here are obviously ideas and they’re points to work through, so we have a visual to present while we’re showing them around, explaining some of the ideas of it,” she said.
“It’s not that this is exactly what we plan to do or that this is the exact build that we want to build - it gives us something to start with.”
Changes to the camping itself are focused around Zone 4, which would see the existing camping structures expanded dramatically, doubled in some locations. A second concentric ring of campsites has been proposed for the roundabout area in the current campground, with another road of campsites proposed in the main camping area to the south. Along with those changes are other suggestions from the architects, including what Urban Systems called a “Blueberry lodge” - a possible rehearsal, accommodation and business space not far from the Blueberry Jam stage - along with a thermal patio and sauna, a pair of walking trails and campsites for tents. Also included in the plans were spots set aside for yurts and for smaller “eco-cabins”.
The last zone, Zone 5, is near the Rotary Wheel and would include a trail being made between the Blueberry Jam area and the Wheel along the pond south of the venue, with small benches along it that Urban Systems called “Blueberry Jam nodes” - the idea is that the benches could be used as small solo performance spaces. Other ideas include building a floating dock on the pond and using the pond as a skating location in the winter, a community garden on part of the Dadson Row park called a “food forest” and a “fire plaza” campfire site nearby.
Along with all the zones comes a network of trails to the north of the campsite, some of which follow existing snowmobile and hiking trails, some of which would be new. One proposal includes a trail leading to Highway 10, where Urban Systems has proposed a pedestrian bridge over the highway that could lead to further trails on the other side. That idea was one even the architects themselves admitted was unlikely to have happen.
“This is a really interesting conceptual idea that might not be grounded in reality,” said Urban Systems landscape architect Rachelle Kirouac of the proposed bridge.
Many wrinkles would still need to be ironed out - for instance, several of the projects proposed would require significant landscape work, including levelling and potentially blasting rock, sometimes near existing residential neighbourhoods. A proposed parking lot in the final zone, which in the Urban Systems plan is located south of the current Dadson Row entrance road, would require trees to be cut down and a rock outcrop to be blasted within 30 metres of existing houses if carried out.
Urban Systems consultants also mistakenly referred to Dadson Row as “Dadson Road” throughout the presentation and, when referring to the replacement for the Flin Flon Aqua Centre, appeared to believe that the pool was not only built but open - construction has only recently begun on the project, which is unlikely to open until 2025 at the earliest.
One of the attendees of the meeting, former city councillor and long-time City employee Guy “Beastie” Rideout, said he supported the plan, even though it might need to be changed later.
“I think the concept is great. It’s not going to happen overnight - it’ll happen in stages and they’re probably going to prioritize what’s going to be a fit first,” he said.
“For funding and everything, that’s going to take a lot of grants and everything. I've worked for the City off and on including the campground for over 30 years. Everything's baby steps - you can have the best-laid plan and then somebody has an idea that just goes a little bit off to make it better. I love the idea. It's going to take years - I might be gone by the time it’s complete - but we're looking for more things for this city to attract people.”
Kirouac agreed with Beastie that things may need to be changed, but the first proposal was more about showing what could be possible, not what a final product would look like.
“One of the things about designing a plan for a site like this is it’s easier to pull back than it is to add more. We want to provide enough that you can talk about, have this conversation and maybe some of these areas never get implemented - that’s a decision that you, as a community, need to make,” she said.
“This isn’t about getting shovels in the ground tomorrow. This is about finding out what is the right investment and what’s going to have the biggest impact for you. This is just a launch point.”
