Kids in Cold Lake can finally cool off; the Kinosoo Beach Splash Park is officially open!
Canada Day not only marked the celebration of our country's 148th birthday, for youth in Cold Lake it also signified the opening of the long-awaited splash park. Hoards of eager kids made a dash to try out the variety of water features following the official ribbon cutting.
“I think it's fantastic. It was always about the kids so it's great to see the enjoyment and all the smiling faces and everybody getting wet today,” said Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland. “It's a good day to be living in Cold Lake.”
Erin Harrison was one of the many parents who brought their kids down to take advantage of the new splash park.
“I think it's great. It's a great idea to put it right on the beach and it's lots of fun for the kids,” said Harrison.
Daughter Hailey, 10, had one specific feature that caught her attention.
“(My favourite) is the pelican, because it opens and it splashed on you and you don't know when.”
Also splashing about in the just-opened Kinosoo Beach Splash Park was nine-year-old Bryce and six-year-old Gavin. Both boys were unanimous that the splash park is “awesome” and they will definitely want to come back in the heat of the summer. Much to their delight, mom Connie Harrison said she'll be happy to take them.
“It's something fun that they can do outdoors and not just stay indoors. I think it's something that was much needed for Cold Lake. It's such a big community and the kids needed something that would actually get them out and in a group.”
With the addition of LED lighting, the Kinosoo Beach Splash Park was designed to be showpiece for the city both day and night. Work on the underground infrastructure along the Kinosoo Beach area of 1 Avenue was completed last year, allowing shovels to hit the ground in May for construction.
The final price tag for the splash park came in around $700,000. The project also included a walking path surrounding the pad to connect it to other areas of the beach.
Copeland is the splash park is a “great fit” in the community being as eight percent of the city's population is between the ages of zero and four.
“Our council, we really are about trying to make the quality of life for families key when we're making decisions. I think having it down at the lake is a great location; mom and dad can sit on the beach and bring the kids over to the splash park.”
With the project finally coming to fruition, Copeland reserved special praise for city staff, who worked with the consultants to get the feature up and running in time for the Canada Day grand opening.
Prior to the splash ribbon cutting, people lined the streets by Kinosoo Beach to watch the Canada Day parade before filing next to the gazebo for the Canada Day opening ceremonies. Despite the uncertain weather, with rain even coming down for a short time, that didn't dampen anyone's spirits.
“The turnout for the parade was outstanding, I think it was the most people ever for a parade,” expressed Copeland. “What was really neat to see was the amount of businesses and organizations that got involved in having floats in the parade.”
Now that the Kinosoo Beach Splash Park is officially open, the city will be looking at adding aesthetic features to the area such as benches. Regardless of what gets added, there's no doubt the kids of Cold Lake give the splash park two thumbs up.
