Entwistle Community Hub & Aquatic Facility

Client | Parkland County

Status | Completed

Project Type | Recreational Development

The Entwistle Community Hub and Aquatic Facility is in the Hamlet of Entwistle, 70 km west of Stony Plain. The valued recreation facility serves the communities of Entwistle and Evansburg, as well as the surrounding residents of Parkland County and Yellowhead County, offering public swimming, rentals, and lessons. The pool facility was aging and believed to be near the end of its lifespan. Parkland County identified the need for rehabilitation, seeing also an opportunity to create a hub for the surrounding communities through the introduction of social amenities on the land surrounding the aquatic facility, creating a highly social environment for pool users and non-pool users alike. Creating a multi-purpose park space that could be enjoyed by users of all ages was a critical aspect of the community hub. The park space was divided into two main features: a passive green space and an active hard surface area. The naturalized landscape encourages discovery, play, and relaxation for the user, with granular paths, naturalized play areas, an outdoor classroom, passive open spaces, with room to accommodate traditional play equipment and outdoor eating areas. Next to the park green space, a skate park was introduced to inject more recreational activities to the site. To visually delineate the two distinct zones, a low impact development feature, in the form of a bioswale, was used. This feature not only provides a more environmentally conscious way of dealing with watershed from the hard surfacing, but also offers another opportunity for education and discovery.