Starting on Monday, October 30, crews with the City of Prince George will begin seasonal closures at two outdoor civic facilities.
Connaught Hill and Carrie Jane Gray Parks will close to vehicular traffic beginning at 9:00pm.
Crews are also in the process of shutting down and winterizing some public washroom facilities, such as those at Duchess Park and Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park.
All parks and public washroom facilities will be re-opened in the spring on a weather-dependent basis.
New Gunderson carvings added at Cottonwood
Local Artist Elmer Gunderson recently carved eight more of his famous works into the bark of some of the trees lining the trails winding through Cottonwood Island Park. The new additions bring the total number of carvings in the park to 20.The artwork is carved into the dense outer bark of the cottonwood, avoiding the cambium layer and does not harm the trees.
The project was initiated by Prince George Heritage Commission member Jeff Elder and the Railway and Forestry Museum, which applied for support from the City’s Community Enhancement Grants and secured support from Papyrus Printing Ltd.
In 2005, during the City’s 90th Anniversary celebrations, Gunderson was commissioned to carve images into the bark of cottonwood trees in the Park. In the past two years, he has added 14 more carvings to the trails. Gunderson is a retired City employee who helped build the trails in the park during the 1980s.
The City has installed a sign that details the carvings for visitors to the park at a kiosk in the parking lot near the replica bridge. A brochure indicating the locations of the carvings is also available at Tourism Prince George and the Railway and Forestry Museum on the City website.
Trail rehabilitation underway at Cottonwood Island Park
Residents are advised that trail rehabilitation activities started this week at Cottonwood Island Park to mitigate the effects of flooding in low-lying areas of the park. The crews are grading and edging nearly 300 metres of the trail using gravel and crushed rock. The project is the most extensive trail rehabilitation project of the year. The City expects the work to be complete in about two weeks. Signage warning park users of the operation has been placed at the replica bridge and at the service bridge near the canoe launch.