The midway rides at this year's Lac La Biche Summer Days will be set up on a neighbourhood lot near the Aurora Middle School.
Privately-owned property along 103 Street across from the Lac La Biche Al-Kareem Mosque will house big rides, spinning rides and kiddie rides for the August 4-6 Summer Days celebration. It's all part of a bumpy ride for organizers of this year's event due to massive construction projects, explains Lac La Biche Pow Wow Days and Fish Derby Association President Neil Timm.
"The community has so much construction this year. There's new work taking place around McArthur Place where we normally have the midway and there wasn't the right space near the Bold Center," said Timm. "We wanted to keep the rides and the fun as close to downtown as we could — and even then, with all the construction on Main Street, this was our best bet."
That best bet will see property that was once a historic mink ranch, and currently owned by the folks behind the Minx Autobody business turn into a fairground. The grassy property checks all the boxes needed by the amusement company and the Summer Days organizers — it's a big enough and close enough to downtown and residential areas.
"It's centrally located, and big enough," said Timm explaining that municipal officials did offer alternative sites near the Bold Center and on the Bold Center Sports Fields, but they were either too small, or too close to the baseball diamonds. "We want to thank them for the offer — but the amusement company needs the bigger space, and it needs to be a safe place."
Summer Days organizers understand that the new location will raise a few eyebrows, but Timm says it is the best option to keep pedestrian traffic in the downtown area — which may help the local business sector.
"The focus of the association has been to keep it closer to the downtown core. This is a community event, and this is the best place for the community to benefit," Timm said.
The area is fenced and there are some outbuildings on the property — but that won't be a problem, says Timm.
"There will be 'buffers' put around the buildings, so people can't get to them, and they won't be in the way," he said, explaining that with construction plans up-rooting many aspects of the community event that has been running for 60 years, it meant organizers had to make the best choices in "fluid" situations.
He says that next year's event will likely see additional changes as the three-year downtown construction plan and the three-year McArthur Park renovations continue.
"We are doing the best we can with what we have to work with," he said.
The Summer Days midway will open at the new location on Friday, August 4 at noon.
