Harvie Passage set for 2018 re-opening as government seeks bids for rebuild

HarviePassage wasn't open for long before the 2013 floods shut it down. Now the province is getting started on fixing up the would-be paddlers' paradise.

The facility, located on the Bow River just downstream from the Calgary Zoo, cost millions of dollars to build, but was only open for a year before it was badly damaged.The Alberta government is now taking bids to repair it.

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Chuck Lee with the Alberta Whitewater Association said it's great news work will soon begin and thatthe province intends to repair thewhitewaterside of the passage, and also make the low-water section safer for rafters.

"In the 2013 recreation survey that the province does, there are more people now paddling, canoeing, kayaking than play hockey,than play basketball or volleyball or play softball and baseball," he said. "So why don't we put money into recreational facilities forcanoersand kayakers?"

The repair will be a big job.The tender calls for 24,000tonnes of boulders to be used to repair the channels.

The province wants Harvie Passage re-opened by June, 2018.The cost of the repairs is not yet known, and will depend on the bids that come in by the July 21 deadline.

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