The Cranbrook Rotary Club recently celebrated the official opening of a new dual zipline, which replacied an existing zipline, as part of a slew of upgrades to amenities at Idlewild Park.
The Cranbrook Rotary Club funded and built the zipline in partnership with the City of Cranbrook and Western Financial Group.
Chris New, the Director of Corporate Wide Initiatives for the City of Cranbrook, said it was important to keep the zipline as an amenity at the park, which is in the process of an ongoing redevelopment plan.
“One of the things, when we first started the development of the master plan for Idlewild Park about three or so years ago, we had quite an extensive community consultation,” said New. “We had probably the highest response on any kind of planning process we’ve ever done for something like this — something like 1,300 responses.
“One of the themes that definitely came out was ‘keep the zipline’; we heard that a number of times.”
It replaced the existing zipline near a playground area on the northern side of the park. New pegged the estimated cost at between $65,000-$70,000.
The club unveiled the completed project earlier in September, but the Cranbrook Rotary Club recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with volunteer members and partners to mark the occasion.
Additionally, the club also conducted a regular meeting inside one of the new timber-frame pavilions.
New added that working with the Cranbrook Rotary Club allowed for some cost-savings that made it possible for a dual zipline, whereas the its predecessor was just a single line.
The Cranbrook Rotary Club isn’t finished with their involvement at Idlewild Park; the club is preparing to help pave a pathway around Idlewild Lake for easier accessibility for those with mobility issues or young families with strollers.
trevor.crawley@cranbrooktownsman.com
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