THUNDER BAY – The Muskeg Express looks like it will be running full steam ahead this summer.
Thunder Bay city council on Monday night approved a request from Coun. Andrew Foulds to take $50,000 from the stabilization reserve fund for necessary repairs and upgrades for the Centennial Park train ride to meet safety standards.
Foulds, who represents the Current River ward that encompasses the park, said the amusement ride has been enjoyed by city residents for more than 50 years.
“The Muskeg Express celebrates part of Centennial Park,” Foulds said. “It’s one of those legacy projects. It’s one of those things kids remember, parents remember, grandparents remember.”
The ride was not operational last year but the ride generated $3,400 in 2016, which Foulds said would mean a minimum of 1,200 people took a trip based on if they paid the adult admission of $2.75 each, which doesn’t factor in kids going on either for free or at the reduced rate.
“We know there were lots of kids on that train. We know there were lots of families on that train. We know this thing is getting used,” Foulds said. “It’s one of those value added experiences in a park and to be perfectly frank, we don’t need any more trails in Centennial.”
Coun. Linda Rydholm compared the state of the Muskeg Express to another 1967 project – the Centennial Botanical Conservatory – that was shortchanged in regular maintenance and resulted in a hefty cost to keep functional.
“These projects were not well maintained over the years so now we pay the price,” Rydholm said.
City parks manager Cory Halvorsen said there is a significant gap in the amount of parks assets and their upkeep costs.
“We know we have more assets that are continuing to fail over time than we do have a planned budget from a maintenance standpoint,” Halvorsen said.
Halvorsen said the majority of the costs are to bring the ride’s tracks up to Technical Safety Standards Association guidelines and can be completed before the ride’s annual scheduled start date in June.
The Muskeg Express had previously been on the chopping block when during the 2017 budget process city administration recommended it cease operations and be converted to a static display. Foulds successfully led efforts to reverse that approach.
Losing the Muskeg Express would continue a history of cuts, Foulds argued.
“Centennial Park, one of our premier parks, over the last number of years has taken hit after hit, after hit,” Foulds said.
“We lost the toboggan runs. We’ve lost the sleigh rides. There’s been some playground equipment removed. The grooming and maintenance of the trails has not been up to what the citizens want. It’s been one thing after another and this is supposed to be Centennial Park – one of our premier parks.”
Though the funding was taken from reserve funds, Mayor Keith Hobbs asked administration about how much that value would amount to in the total city budget.
“That says it all, to spend 0.027 per cent to make a lot of kids and their families happy. We talk about quality of life in Thunder Bay,” Hobbs said. “There’s history here and it’s our parks. We need to put more money into our parks.”
