Snowbird Could Be Park’s Crowning Glory

Sidney may get two used Snowbird aircraft – but you’ll only see them if you don a wetsuit. Darryll Harasemow, owner of Liquid Heaven dive shop, told Sidney council in late June about plans to add two of the Snowbird planes to the underwater park planned by Reg Teeny on the shore side of Bevan Pier extension. The planes are among several that the snowbird team will see replaced by new aircraft in coming months. Teeney’s plan has been to create an underwater park that would include a continuation of the reef ball project that is already in place along the seabed at Bevan Pier, a plane, a boat, and a statue.

The park would be and attraction to divers, and would perhaps be viewed via underwater cameras connected to monitors set up in the marine ecology centre. Plans for that component are still under discussion. Harasemow told the council that existing reef ball project has been extremely successful, having created a rich habitat for sea life. He expects the expanded reef will result in an even richer habitat. He also reported to council about a beach clean-up his company organized earlier this year. He said they removed two truck loads of garbage around Bevan Pier (“we didn’t even get to Beacon Wharf,” he told the council). He stressed the importance of keeping the ocean free of debris, and gave the opinion that “those who dump should get charged.” He said the plane and any other items to go into the underwater park would be property treated so they would not create pollution. “Putting them in this area will create a lot of interest [within the diving community] and bring in tourist dollars,” He said he is looking at obtaining four snowbird planes to sink in areas around the peninsula. The statue, a bronze sculpture, would be approximately 13 feet high and would form part of the underwater park. Teeney has planned to put the park on the shore side of Bevan Pier, to ensure boats are not endangered by it, and to keep divers free of the strong current offshore.  Mayor Don Amos thanked Harasemow for the update on the reef ball project. “It’s nice to hear it’s doing what we thought it would do,” he said.