Gyro Park is spiffed up and ready for beach-goers after Trail public works recently gave the sandy expanse a spring sweep and installed a new feature to indicate water levels.
The river elevation indicator, or measuring board, forms part of the city’s “Gyro Park Swim Area Improvements” undertaking, which is a carryover from the 2022 capital budget.
“The goal of the project is to provide an officially designated swim area, which the beach was lacking,” explains Chris McIsaac, director, Trail public works. “Contrary to what people thought, the old ‘safety rope’ installation was never intended to designate a swim area, it was only intended to be a safety line.”
Moreover, McIsaac says the old park signage was deemed to be inadequate as it did not properly represent the hazards of swimming in the river.
Once this leg of work is complete, in addition to the river level indicator, the beach will have an officially delineated swim area along with a swim line and buoys, and corresponding hazard identification signage.
“This will allow users to readily identify the hazards of swimming in times of high river elevations, and make an educated decision on whether to enter the water or not,” McIsaac says. “This all stems from recommendations received in a 2019 Risk Control Survey.”
The contractor will be back on site the middle of this week to complete sign installations.
Passersby may have noticed a large haul of new sand has already been added to the beach area.
McIsaac says the idea for more sand came from Trail resident Sharman Thomas, one of the driving forces behind building up the beach a number of years ago.
“Sharman had recently reached out to the city to discuss the possibilities of the city adding sand to the beach, so we took advantage of having the equipment onsite and made it happen,” McIsaac adds. “Sharman volunteered his time to assist and spent last Friday afternoon on the beach directing the sand placement.”
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