Malcolm Jenkins presents a $100,000 cheque to Tim Yeaman, the Manager of Parks and Recreation for the City of Prince Albert in front of one of the new warmup shelters at Little Red River Park on Jan. 25, 2024. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Keeping warm while having fun

Malcolm Jenkins donates $100k for two new warmup shelters in Little Red

Jan 26, 2024 | 6:00 AM

Residents visiting Little Red River Park North of Prince Albert may have noticed a couple of new buildings at both the Rotary Adventure Park and Toboggan Hill.

Those buildings are brand-new warmup shelters that were brought to life by Malcolm Jenkins, who presented a cheque for $100,000 to the City outside of one of the buildings.

“I thought this would be a really neat thing to do,” said Jenkins. “It extends the life of the playground because kids come in April before the snow goes and then they get cold so they can warm up, they won’t be wanting to go home after a half hour. Same with the Toboggan Hill, they can come in here and warm up and spend more time playing.”

He added that the shelters were next up on his to-do list after seeing how popular the park can get during the day.

“It came up because we were doing the [Rotary Adventure Park] and seeing the swarms of people when we opened it – the car parks were full, every evening until dusk. When we have something that’s as popular like that, obviously people are taking it to their heart. It’s money well spent.”

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The inside of one of the new warm up shelters, this one at the bottom of the Toboggan Hill. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

The shelters are identical structures, measuring 16 feet by 24 feet and can fit up to 25 people comfortably. Either building is equipped with benches, coat hooks, and a wood-burning stove.

Both shelters were also given a name. The one at the bottom of the toboggan hill is named Kaiya after his great-granddaughter while the other is named Violet, who was the daughter of a close friend who passed away before she was two-years-old.

“We wanted to honour her memory,” said Jenkins.

Violet’s warm up venue sits along the perimeter of the Rotary Adventure Park. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

He continued by saying that plans are already in the works to use the shelters in the summer for various events, including the possibility of using the building at the bottom of the hill as a canteen for a music festival which he said they are working towards.

The shelters open to the public next week and will be open all day, every day from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. except for statutory holidays.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com