Nelson’s Rotary Daybreak has asked the City of Nelson to contribute $40,000 toward the construction of a spray park at Art Gibbon Park in Rosemont.
Lorne Westnedge, Mike McIndoe and Meg Milner told council at its June 28 meeting that Rotary Daybreak will raise the remaining $171,000 to $200,000 for the project.
Council heard the presentation and asked questions, but a decision on whether to contribute will come up at a future meeting.
The spray park project will be the third phase of Rotary’s three-part inter-generational park project. Phase one saw the construction of playgrounds, and phase two was for seniors — particularly the residents of nearby Jubilee Manor — with the construction of paved walkways, wheelchair-accessible picnic tables, park benches and shade shelter.
Art Gibbon Park is also home to Nelson’s skatepark and bicycle park.
MacIndoe told council the popularity of the park has increased greatly over the past few years because of the variety of people using it, including skateboarders and cyclists.
“This creates a conundrum for you guys as councillors because with all that usage, you are going to have to put some support behind it and it is going to take some money to maintain it,” he told council. “That part we (Rotary) don’t have to do. We just build it for you.”
Milner told council that Rosemont Park is a good place for the spray park because it already has water on site, it would only operate when an activator button was pushed, and that the water would only be turned on in scheduled hours.
She said it would use about 7,000 cubic metres of water per year, similar to a grocery store.
Mayor John Dooley spoke enthusiastically about the development of the park, saying that Rosemont residents are isolated because of the highway interchange and had been previously neglected when it comes to park facilities.
“That park has created a real sense of community,” he said. “It has brought that neighbourhood together like I have never seen.”
READ MORE:
• Nelson spends to upgrade three parks
• Nelson contributes $5,000 in kind to Rosemont inter-generational park
bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
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