Four years ago, a children’s spray park in Delisle was a dream of a few parents and community members.
That dream is set to become a reality at the end of May.
After years of planning, fundraising, and a lot of hard physical labour by dozens of volunteers, the Delisle Spray Park will officially open on May 27.
“It’s been about four years, and everyone is really looking forward to opening day, especially the kids,” said Delisle Spray Park Committee (DSPC) Chair Deb Winder. “There’s still quite a bit of work to do over the next few weeks, but we’re confident it’ll be ready for opening day.
“We had a hot summer last year, and it looks like this summer will be just as hot. So we’re happy to have a place where the kids can come and cool off and have a good time.”
The $400,000 project is being built under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), a tripartite program in which the community picks up one-third of the cost, while the provincial and federal governments are covering the other two-thirds through grants.
“It started in the fall of 2018 as a dream of a few people in town,” said Winder in an interview. “And then one of our previous town councillors, Brittany Wich, brought it to council and the town got behind the project in a big way by donating land and declaring it a green space. That allowed us to apply for grants under the federal-provincial infrastructure program.”
In addition to Winder and Wich, the DSPC committee members include Billie Parker, Megan Schmidt, Lori Neault, Jason Alkestrup and Dave Anderchek. But the list of volunteers is almost endless.
“We did a lot of fundraising events and solicited donations, large and small, from businesses and individuals,” said Winder. “We sold rain barrels, held golf tournaments, had Mother’s Day and Father’s Day raffles, had a local Crops for Community harvest, SARCAN drop-off, class reunions, a comedy show; a lot of different things.
“We had some big donations from companies in the area, and also the RMs of Vanscoy and Montrose.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, we had a huge village helping us raise money so we can encourage our children to be active and healthy and safe.”
The spray park is located in Harold Worth Park on the west side of Delisle, next to the town’s four ball diamonds and walking path.
“Our town has a lot of young families, and it’s a very sports-minded community,” said Winder. “There are active hockey, ball and soccer organizations, and people involved in those groups pitched in and helped raise money for the park.”
Winder said the landscaping and sod for the spray park were installed last fall. A multi-purpose building that includes storage rooms for minor ball and soccer groups is complete except for a few finishing touches in the interior. The building resembles a traditional prairie grain elevator, and was funded in large part by the company whose familiar colours gild the walls and roof.
The remaining work still to be finished over the next few weeks includes: installation of fencing, sprinkler lines and sprinkler heads, tables, benches and bike rack and other amenities.
The grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 27 will feature dignitaries from municipal, provincial and federal governments; businesses and individuals that have put in sizeable donations. A barbecue is planned as a way of saying thanks to all those who helped make the dream a reality.