New trail, washrooms for Lois Hole park

The province has kicked in $160,000 to add new trails and accessible washrooms to Lois Hole Park.

St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud dropped by the Enjoy Centre Tuesday to announce the province would invest the money this year to add a new trail and accessible washrooms to Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park just west of St. Albert.

Established in 2005, the park was named after former lieutenant-governor and St. Albert resident Lois Hole.

The announcement coincided with the release of the park’s management plan, which has been in the works since 2016.

“This management plan is not only a guiding document, it’s a commitment to Lois Hole, her legacy, her family and the values she held in her commitment to nature,” Renaud said.

The new trail will be a 1.2-kilometre loop through the forest and field just south of the park’s parking lot, said Sharina Kennedy, the Alberta Parks planner in charge of the park’s management plan. It will be wheelchair-accessible and made of crushed rock, and will feature benches and interpretive signs. The trail will address problems with off-leash dogs and trash that have built up on the informal trails here and restore native vegetation to the region.