Lake Sikome Turns 35

[undercoverbrother]

Easy Sliver this is not an attack thread on your beloved LB.

I am sure many of us that grew up in Calgary spent some time at Sikome, either swimming in the day, or drinking and touchin boobies in the night.

It used to be nasty.....but has cleaned up:

In 1988 the facility closed so that a new water plant could be built and a plastic membrane installed under the sand to mitigate these problems. When Sikome relaunched the following summer, reporters praised the “high-tech swimming hole.” The water still came from wells, but an upgraded treatment plant now refreshed the full volume of water every eight days instead of 20. “You have to understand,” says Stomp, “that Sikome has a water-treatment plant big enough for a community the size of Airdrie. The water is chlorinated and copper sulfate is added as an algaecide.” None of the private lakes goes to all of those lengths, says Stomp, and he knows of only two other public swim facilities with similar technology: one at Echo Dale Regional Park in Medicine Hat and the other at Birds Hill Provincial Park near Winnipeg.
Not all of Sikome’s challenges—and there have been many—involved technology. Disruptions have included the usual suspects, says Stomp: “Domestic disputes, drugs and alcohol.” Conservation officers are the front line of security—screening bags for alcohol and glass, for instance—though city police regularly attend as necessary. In 2008 the province decided to build a fence around the lake, citing crowd control, late-night drinking and strangers taking photos of children. That season, too, a hot economy made it difficult to find lifeguards—aquatic safety personnel, they’d prefer you to call them—a process that is still not easy since shift scheduling is entirely weather-dependent. Adverse weather events like wind-fallen trees occasionally interrupt the park’s scheduled 80-day season. Sikome lost several weeks of operation due to the “flood” of 2005. (Has any catastrophe been downgraded to mild irritation any more abruptly?) As for the human toll, there has only been one drowning, a seven-year-old in 1996, and a man once became paralyzed when he dove into shallow water.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/swerve/...139/story.html

[Sainters7]

I used to be a Dickie Dee there when I was 14. Half the people would get mad at me for those annoying bells ringing whenever I came by, and the other half would complain about not being able to know when I'm close by with the bells off. Those were good times. Saw lots of boobies though, that's spank bank gold at that age.

[ranchlandsselling]

100% of posts mentioning boobies thus far and I never went. Suddenly feeling very regretful

[Sliver]

Hey, I'm not offended. The more lakes, the better.

[sclitheroe]

Yay for plastic lined lakes

[Northendzone]

I like bobbies, and Bobbie related posts.....yeah for bobbies!!!

[Violator]

Lots of boob talk and no boobs this forum has hit a #### wall

[TurnedTheCorner]

This lake, at 35, has been through a lot of life experiences and events to let it really objectively determine what a great lake it is.

NSFW!

[Northendzone]

^ biggest disappointment since the movie the neverending story was released.......

More boobie talks, please.