Floating dock in Victoria Park opening to public on Friday

The floating dock has been installed at Victoria Park in Charlottetown and will officially open to the public Friday morning.

The new addition will enable people to walk out onto the dock and touch the water, as well provide a spot to enjoy the beautiful waterfront views, city officials said in a release.

An additional accessible parking space has also been created in front of the entrance of the floating dock, the release said.

A list of rules and regulations isposted at the entrance to the floating dock.It will be available for use from dawn until dusk daily.

After considering it for several years, the City of Charlottetown said it was going ahead with a new floating dock for Victoria Park last summer.

However, the dock, which the city purchased for $51,605 last year, has been a topic of controversy since then. Resident complaints eventually led to a broadly-attended public meeting in May, where comments were divided evenly between those for and against the project.

Charlottetown council finally voted for the dock to go ahead at a meeting inJune but without one main feature:boats will not be allowed to launch from it.

The original plan had room for non-motorized vessels, but council changed that after hearing concerns about safety and traffic.

Those looking to launch small non-motorized watercrafts such as kayaks can use the city-owned public slip at the Charlottetown Yacht Club, therelease said.

The temporary structure is expected to remain in place until Oct. 15.

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