The Kananaskis Country Golf Course will get an $18 million facelift, one that will enable the 36-hole, flood-ravaged destination to reopen in the next two to three years.
The course, which boasts two 18-hole choices – Mount Kidd and Mount Lorette – for golf enthusiasts around the world, was destroyed by the June 2013 flood that damaged much of Southern Alberta.
The announcement to repair the course comes nearly a year after the flood, and Mary Lou Reeleder, communications director for Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, said the government made its post-flood decisions based on order of priority.
“The province’s first priority was to help people directly impacted by the flood,” said Reeleder, “and to ensure critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools and roads were repaired.”
Reeleder said the government then turned its attention to Alberta’s provincial parks system, as they are key to the physical and mental wellbeing of Albertans and to the economy.
She pointed out that the province is investing $81 million to restore day-use areas, campgrounds and recreation trails that were damaged or destroyed by the June 2013 flood, and that $60 million was allotted to help repair Kananaskis Country.
“The Alberta government made the decision to restore the Kananaskis Country Golf Course because doing so will contribute to the region’s long-term economic recovery from the June 2013 flood,” said Reeleder.
According to Reeleder, a 2011 economic impact study revealed the Kananaskis Country Golf Course had a province-wide net economic impact of $14 million and generated $1.9 million in taxes for the provincial government (as well as $4.4 million for the federal government and $800,000 for local governments). A study also showed that of the 60,000 annual rounds of golf played at the course, approximately 85 per cent were played by Albertans.
Before the course closed due to flooding, green fees were $98 for 18 holes – Alberta residents paid $78.
Reeleder said the earliest the golf course would reopen would be 2016, and that the government would work with experts to help mitigate possible future flooding of the popular golf destination.
“This includes additional sediment traps and more armouring of watercourses to reduce the risk of future flood damage,” she said.
Reeleder said the government expects the majority of the $18 million investment into the golf course will be reimbursed through the federal government’s Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA).
The $60 million being invested into Kananaskis Country will go toward restoring 41 damaged campgrounds, 51 day-use areas, over 160 km of recreation trails and 65 trail bridges.
“We are thrilled to see the provincial government take an active role in the restoration of critical infrastructure such as the Kananaskis Country Golf Course and numerous surrounding hiking trails,” Andrew Nickerson, CEO for Tourism Canmore Kananaskis, said in a press release.
According to the Alberta Government website, provincial and federal governments have combined to spend nearly $5 billion to recover and rebuild after the 2013 flood, with some of the largest portions going toward erosion control and community flood mitigation projects ($264 million) and First Nations’ housing ($200 million).
According to Alberta Construction Magazine, the 2013 Alberta flood was the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history, with Manitoba’s Red River flood of 1997 coming in second with a price tag of $3.5 billion.
