Was this week’s visit by West Coast Amusements to Sidney, the last time we’ll see the traveling midway rides and games show in the community?
Not by a long shot, says Brad Edgett, executive director of the Mary Winspear Centre.
Traditionally, the rides and booths set up on land owned by the Memorial Park Society (operators of the Mary Winspear Centre) and Town of Sidney, next to the Pat Bay Highway. With a pair of large construction projects planned for the area, the PNR asked all three parties about the chances of the amusement company returning to town next year.
Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Sidney Randy Humble, agreed that this could be the last time the show sets up in that area - but added any decision would be up to the Society and the company.
Sidney officially broke ground on its new community safety building project at the end of March and construction work is expected to begin there by June. That site is south of the Mary Winspear Centre and the existing skateboard park - which will also be demolished this spring. The Town has been negotiating an agreement with the Memorial Park Society to lease a portion of their property to crease an access point onto Bevan Avenue for emergency vehicles.
That alone could limit non-emergency vehicle access to much of the area.
As well, Sidney has plans for a large parking lot where the skateboard park is now, connected to the Mary Winspear Centre’s existing paved parking area. The Town’s lot would be designed to encourage people who work in Sidney to park there, helping free up spaces downtown.
Humble agreed that once those projects are completed, there are few, if any, suitable spaces in Sidney for a large, traveling assortment of amusement rides and games.
Edgett said WCA may have to take one year off because of those construction projects — but said after talking with the amusements company, they will return to Sidney by 2019. Or earlier, depending on how quickly the work gets done.
Egdett said WCA is using the Luxton Fairgrounds as its base of operations while on the Island, splitting their time between there, Esquimalt’s Buccaneer Days and a couple days in Sidney. The company, he continued, is now able to store their trucks at Luxton and no longer need extra space in Sidney.
He said the configuration of the rides and game exhibition will be more compact than in the past, but will be back in town.
“That was part of the (land use) agreement we worked on with Sidney,” Edgett explained. “We didn’t want to lose any revenue opportunities on the property.”
Edgett added if the site is eventually paved for the new parking lot, it will make for a cleaner, less muddier space for the rides.
Phone calls and emails from the PNR to West Coast Amusements were not returned.
Sidney isn’t the only place on the Saanich Peninsula where the amusement company sets up. Each fall, they become part of the hubbub of the annual Saanich Fair in Central Saanich. This year, the Fair is Sept. 2 to 4 at the Saanich Fairgrounds.