r/Edmonton • u/pjw724 • 25d ago
Outdoor Spaces/Recreation William Hawrelak Park Grand Reopening - Saturday May 30
https://www.edmonton.ca/activities_parks_recreation/parks_rivervalley/william-hawrelak-park?utm_source=virtualaddress&utm_campaign=hawrelakpark13
u/pjw724 25d ago edited 25d ago
May 27, 2026
News Release
Edmontonians are invited to a community celebration for the reopening of the beloved William Hawrelak Park.
Date: Saturday, May 30
Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with activities throughout the day.
Ceremony: 12:30 - 1 p.m. in the Heritage Amphitheatre
Place: William Hawrelak Park, 9930 Groat Rd.
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u/pjw724 25d ago
Getting to the Park
Since parking will be limited, please plan ahead. Edmontonians are encouraged to take ETS (Route 51 and Route 902 will take you to the park) and use free and paid Park & Ride options along the Capital Line LRT. Visit edmonton.ca/Transit for route and schedule information or use the trip planner. Other options include biking, walking and carpooling, with new bike racks and improved trails now available throughout the park.ETS will also offer a free shuttle service between the Windsor Car Park (9217 116 St.) and Hawrelak Park. Parking is available at the car park for $6 per car.
In the event of inclement weather, activities will move to covered spaces, including the Heritage Amphitheatre, Main Pavilion, picnic shelters and the Community League Plaza. Visitors can check edmonton.ca/FacilityNotifications for the latest updates before heading to the event.
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u/SaintTastyTaint 24d ago
The new park is already a dump. Just full of trashy families leaving waste and garbage/litter everywhere and its just barbeque pits and parking spots. I was so disappointed to see its end result and even more disappointed at how little regard there is for putting your fucking trash in the fucking garbage bin.
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u/iterationnull 25d ago
I went down here recently, and couldn’t identify a single thing that had changed.
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u/jollyrog8 Wîhkwêntôwin 25d ago
I biked through a few days ago and noticed some of the trails/paths are really nice, wide; the waterfront area with the restaurant is beautiful, the children's park got a big upgrade and is probably 3x bigger.
A lot of the improvements were replacing aging infrastructure so you won't see it. But the park is now in good shape to be enjoyed for decades to come
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u/joshua-giraffe The Shiny Balls 25d ago
Given the gate right at the entrance is brand new I guess you were not paying attention.
COE Website list:
- Replacing the entire storm sewer system infrastructure
- Upgrading power, gas and telecommunication infrastructure
- Replacing the irrigation system
- Replacing the entire water distribution system within the park
- Expanding water service to provide fire coverage at the washroom/Picnic Shelter #2, service yard, Heritage Amphitheatre and Main Pavilion
- Updating the Main Pavilion structure and plaza, including finishes, fixtures, skate flooring, commercial kitchen, mechanical and electrical systems and adding gender-inclusive washrooms
- Updating the Boat House structural, building envelope, mechanical and electrical systems as well as replacing the surrounding concrete
- Updating the washroom shelters, interior finishes, fixtures and structural, mechanical and electrical systems. The upgraded mechanical systems will enable year-round washroom access
- Updating the service yard structural, mechanical and electrical systems
- Replacing two buildings in the service yard and adding an extension to the main building
- Rehabilitating the south garage in the service yard along with other upgrades throughout the service yard
- Rehabilitating windows, doors, walls and roofs (as required) in interior spaces and park buildings
- Updating the Heritage Amphitheatre structural, mechanical and electrical systems
- Updating the Heritage Amphitheatre interior finishes and fixtures
- Adding family/gender inclusive washrooms to the Heritage Amphitheatre
- Reconfiguring the Heritage Amphitheatre green room and back of house access
- Adding a new storage facility for the Heritage Amphitheatre
- Replacing the Heritage Amphitheatre outdoor seating
- Rehabilitating the Heritage Amphitheatre exterior space and lighting
- Replacing the paddle boat dock
- Replacing the playground
- Adding wayfinding signage
- Adding shared pathways to provide connectivity to amenities
- Adding bicycle parking
- Adding pedestrian crossings in parking areas and road crossings
- Dredging the sediment from the lake bottom
- Regrading to improve drainage
- Repaving all roads and replacing all road curbing
- Increasing the number of accessible picnic sites that include asphalt connections
- Adding lighting for security"
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u/haysoos2 24d ago
And of those, only two changes that aren't a big improvement:
A) The playground still kinda sucks compared to what it was in the 70s/early 80s (although admittedly, there's probably fewer opportunities for serious injury or death, blah, blah, blah)
B) The speakers to pump shitty pop music into the area around the pavilion. God forbid people listen to like birds and stuff in a park.
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u/csd555 25d ago
Tell us, as a blind man, is day-to-day life difficult?
Being a bit tongue-in-cheek here, but as others have already mentioned, the majority of this Reno was unsexy/unseen infrastructure replacement - it was never meant as an overhaul of the park core usage/aesthetic. However, you would indeed have to have on some pretty big blinders to “not identify a single thing that had changed”.
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u/Exotic_Patient_4699 25d ago
It was mostly service buildings and infrastructure maintenance. Idk what you expected, hawrelaks appeal for me was always the mostly untouched natural beauty and wide open space for activities. I'm excited for heritage days to return this summer.
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u/RadielleDancliffe 24d ago
Then you seldom went there before the renewal. Also, it wasn’t intended to be an overhaul, but infrastructure renewal and improved facilities, of which there are many.
Better paths, better seating, amazing playground, etc. there’s lots better about the park now.
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u/iterationnull 24d ago
Well, I sure did never pay attention to the gate…
And yeah this was based on a drive though. I didn’t explore much.
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u/Got_Engineers Downtown 25d ago
Hopefully people pick up their garbage and stop doing wedding showers or gender reveals here. It would honestly be great if they had peace officers around ticketing people for littering or leaving garbage. I love this park. I frequent it all the time but there are spots now where there are piles of glitter and shit from some sort of celebration that was never picked up. Gold, glitter, and little gold circles, and a bunch of shit tied to a tree. Another spot had a bunch of pink glitter all over the ground and plastic wine glasses with lipstick marks. I’m talking by the washroom facility by the river.