2022 Promises New Opportunities in Both Recreation and Business

The past few months in Neepawa have seen a lot of new business announcements including a new hotel and the expansion of some key industries including construction and healthcare. We’ve heard about those before. What EDO Marilyn Crewe brings to this presentation is something new: the past year of the pandemic saw eight new businesses start in the Neepawa area and no closures.While she can offer only anecdotal evidence of just how well businesses in the area are doing, those facts are clear. The pandemic did not cause any businesses in the Neepawa area to close their doors, likely thanks at least in part to the overall movement to shop and do business close to home.

People who shop at home like to play at home as well. The coming summer will see progress not just on those upcoming businesses as well as several housing developments, but also a slate of new projects in both recreation and tourism.

The previously announced renovation to Riverbend Park will begin Phase I once the snow is gone and the ground thaws, which includes the relocation of the parking lot and accessibility upgrades to the deck and building. The soccer field at the Flats, which was damaged in the flood of 2020, will be recreated to regulation size and the walking path around the area will be completed.

One long-awaited project is additional basketball courts, as next to hockey, basketball is the most played sport in the area (and depending on who you ask may even have surpassed it). Because Crocus Drive will be closed now that the new access road to the CN property housing development is in use, the town will be repurposing the existing asphalt to create two new basketball courts on the site.

On the tourism side of things, the town will finally be installing new wayfinding signage this summer, which was a key part of the tourism committee’s long-term plan when it formed in 2018. Tourism’s successful Maker’s Market which launched last summer will return this year with additional activities, with the hope that it will grow to become Neepawa’s new signature summer festival.