Beaver Creek scales back hours after cut to Meewasin Valley Authority funding

One of Saskatoon'shiking spots along the South Saskatchewan river has announced it will be permanently restricting its hours as of next month following budget cuts.

Starting Oct. 1,Beaver Creek, located just outside of Saskatoon, will be closed on weekends and statutory holidays.

"It's just foreshadowing what may happen," said Doug Porteous, interim CEO of the Meewasin Valley Authority.

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The change comes after the latest provincial budget cut$409,000 from the authority, roughly half of the province's previous annual contribution of $909,000.An additional $34,000 in funding from the University of Saskatchewanwas also lost.

The Government of Saskatchewan, City of Saskatoon and University of Saskatchewan share in MVA park management and funding.

This will be the first year Beaver Creek is closed for weekends before the end of October. The area will remain open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Although the park is free to the public, Porteous said he expects the permanent weekend closures to have a significant impact on the city.

"We've had people from around the world [at the park], probably 30 or 40 countries," said Porteous. "It's just a really great destination for Saskatoon."

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Porteous said the MVA isn't looking forward to next year's budget announcement.

"We could be looking at a 60 per cent further reduction because we lost our statutory funding," he said. "There's no guarantee that we have funding, and if that's the case it will be devastating for Meewasin."

Porteous said further cuts could result in thepermanent closure of Beaver Creek.