TAKE IN THE VIEW. The six-acre Cannery Park site is nearly complete, with an official opening ceremony likely to occur mid-summer.

Redevelopment of the Cannery District has made significant progress in the past couple of years – and families have eagerly awaited the opening of Cannery Park, home to a new playground.

Eau Claire City Council gave the go-ahead for Cannery Park development in 2022 – years after adopting the West Riverside District Plan in 2011 and more recent Cannery District Redevelopment Plan in 2019 – which planned for a six-acre space featuring green space, a gathering space and shelter, skate plaza, pedestrian trails, and a playground, among other things.

While fenced off during active construction, locals have watched the steady progress made on Cannery Park – and noticed the fencing come down in the past week or so.

Parks Supervisor Brendan Osborne said the playground is safe and ready to be used, though an official ribbon-cutting ceremony is yet to come for the overall project this summer. Once the playground’s pour-in-place rubber and concrete was settled, the fencing perimeter came down.

The new playground gives a nod to the city’s history with log features and a metal “can” (as the name implies, the area was once home to larger canneries, about a century ago).

With a few more finishing touches yet to be made – including the park's restrooms, which are not currently open – the city will announce when Cannery Park is officially finished.

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