A popular summer hangout is no longer an option for the remainder of the summer.
Dauphin Rec Services announced that Vermillion Park is closed for the remainder of the season. This includes the campground, playground, splash park, walking trails, washrooms, and the disc golf course.
Wes Carnegie is the operations manager at Dauphin Rec.
"It's one of our staples that is used every day by the community and travellers coming in," said Carnegie. "It was devastating to share the news. With everything that happened there, we aren't able to assess and get it fixed before the end of the season. The extensive amount of damage is unreal once you actually get in there and look."
So far, Dauphin Rec has counted 30 trees toppled over. That wasn't from wind; that's how saturated the ground is.
All the gravel is washed away from the trails and the parking lot.
"The playground is covered in mud," added Carnegie. "The splash park is underwater. That's all electrical. All that electrical has to be replaced. When that unit was originally installed, it was from Texas. We can't just go buy from the shelves or from Winnipeg to replace everything. This is all specialty work."
All the plugs and panel boxes must be changed in the campground. When it comes to opening next summer, Carnegie said it's a wait-and-see thing at this time. Dauphin Rec is now dealing with insurance, and it will depend on how quickly that process goes.
Insurance will not cover the water holding tank. That means there will be a huge upfront cost to Dauphin Rec and the City of Dauphin to complete the fix. It will be an extensive repair, and Wes hopes to recoup some of the money from the province.
Elsewhere, when it comes to Dauphin Rec, they shut the pool down when the City of Dauphin recommended residents reduce their water usage. Residents can now resume normal water usage.
That means the Kin Aquatic Centre is once again an option.
"We felt that we should do our part. We hold the water in the pool. But it's all the people coming in, you're supposed to shower before you enter the pool," ended Carnegie. "We were doing our part by reducing water usage. We shut down for five days, but we are open normal hours now."
For pool schedules, head here.
