Photo: Evergreen Park

By Shane Clausing

Evergreen Park

Evergreen Park hopeful for rebound season in 2021

Mar 26, 2021 | 1:08 PM

Evergreen Park is hoping for a rebound season after what was a difficult 2020.

The 2020 season at Evergreen Park was met with obstacles because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite obstacles in their way, Evergreen Park general manager Dan Gorman says they were able to maneuver their way through the challenges and still put on events.

“It was very challenging, as it’s been for everyone, but I will say the groups we’ve partnered with have been amazing.”

“We tried to find new and unique ways to offer the community some safe options during COVID. We partnered up with Elevation Sled Dogs, the Grande Sunset Theatre and there were a number of events that went on through the winter,” said Gorman. “We also partnered up with TARA Energy Services and they sponsored our outdoor rink, and a lot of the schools were able to book it for their fitness classes.”

While the park was able to stay busy with visitors, the park wasn’t able to make much profit, but Gorman adds he’s happy they were able to give something for people to do while staying at a distance.

“There hasn’t been a lot of revenue-generating events, but we’ve been trying to be a viable place for the community and we’re hoping to offer the same in the summer.”

As a result of the struggle in revenue, Evergreen Park was recently given a grant from the County of Grande Prairie estimated at $281,000. The money will help pay for staffing throughout the summer, which Gorman says will help a lot.

“We’re very grateful for the County, they’ve been very supportive of us. We’ve been going along with the core staff that we’ve got left since the pandemic hit, but there are certainly lots of things to get done. We couldn’t have done it without the County’s support.”

With the snow starting to melt and flowers slowly starting to bloom, the next big challenge for Evergreen Park will be to get horse racing back up and running.

The biggest challenge the park faces right now is the same one as they did last year and that is getting some of their regular jockeys across the border.

“There are many that feel that the jockeys should be designated as an essential worker given that there are so few jockeys in Canada that are able to fill that role,” explained Gorman.

“There’s a lot of them that come in from out of the country. We’re working on that right now It’ll probably be modified like last year, but since we’ve got the protocols all set up and ready to go, we know we can do a very safe job.”

A new addition at Evergreen Park this season will include a new disc golf course. The Grande Sunset Theatre is also expected to make its return sometime in the spring.

Any updates regarding Evergreen Park can be found on their Facebook page.