A financial boost from all three levels of government will transform Dominion Park on Randolph Island in west Saint John.

The province joined the federal government in contributing $185,000 for phase one of the revitalization project.

The first phase includes the construction of a flood-resistant structure with washrooms, a canteen, landscaping upgrades and a plaza to provide better accessibility to the beach.

Leroy Vincent is the operations manager at TimberTop Adventures located in Dominion Park.

He called the financial investment “extremely good news.”

“This area is very, very busy as it is right now. Anything new like this coming just adds to it.
We’ve seen crazy growth this year with coming on the end of the pandemic. People are travelling and visiting beaches. People want to do stuff and get outside,” Vincent said.

The City of Saint John previously announced a $1.1-million commitment to the project.

Mayor Donna Reardon said placing a focus on the quality of life assets like Dominion Park was made early in the new council’s mandate.

“The recommendation from staff is we should do quality of life [investments]. All quality of life because we had such a couple of rough years with the $10 million cut in the budget. We knew we were going to have a couple of lean years,” Reardon said.

Reardon said that Saint John is becoming a very popular destination because of its natural assets which are easy to walk or drive to.

Thursday’s announcement at Dominion Park was hosted by west side councillor Greg Norton and included Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long, Social Development Minister and Saint John Lancaster MLA Dorothy Shephard, and Mayor Donna Reardon.

$185k in federal support for Phase 1 of the Dominion Park revitalization project. pic.twitter.com/Q9EEdJ09MW

— Tamara Steele (@tamarasteele1) August 4, 2022