Kamloops council says pop-up spray park amenities too costly

Photo: Kristen Holliday

Kamloops council has voted against installing a pop-up spray park at Riverside Park, with some councillors saying the temporary features would be installed too late in the summer to justify the expense.

In late June, council approved a motion asking city staff to investigate temporary water park options after a new amenity slated for Riverside Park ran into delays.

At a council meeting Tuesday, Jeff Putnam, the city’s parks and civic facilities manager, said installing the temporary spray park would cost about $40,000, including $20,000 to prep the site for drainage requirements, and to add amenities like garbage cans and benches.

It would cost $12,000 to purchase the spray toys themselves.

“They're about four feet tall and each one of them consumes about the equivalent water of one garden hose so it's actually fairly sustainable. We’re suggesting we're going to buy five or six of them, just to show a bit of variety and animation,” Putnam said.

Putnam said the spray toys could be repurposed for other community events in the future.

Staff identified two possible locations for the temporary spray park — one of the two practice tennis courts in Riverside Park, or a grass area adjacent to the playground.

Putnam said if council wished to proceed, the park could be operational within three weeks based on estimated shipping times, and contingent on a permit from Interior Health.

Putnam said staff didn’t come forward with options for council when the Riverside Park project initially encountered delays as they assumed the community was well-served for spray parks.

Four other water parks are open this summer, including facilities in McDonald Park, Albert McGowan Park, Westsyde Centennial Park, and Prince Charles Park.

Coun. Bill Sarai thanked Putnam for looking into the option for council, but said the cost doesn’t justify the short window of time in which the spray park amenities would be used during this summer.

Coun. Denis Walsh agreed with Sarai, noting that moving the temporary water park amenities to a new location in the future may also cost money for setup.

“Anybody who's been to an outdoor concert, they just use hoses and they have a little stem where they have a fine spray, people walk through that all day and love it. So we don't need to spend $40,000 to just wet people,” Walsh said.

Coun. Arjun Singh asked staff how the spray toys might be moved to different events.

Putnam said they could build temporary bases, and if it’s a short-term event, the city wouldn’t need to spend $10,000 in drainage costs each time the amenities are moved.

“We could use it relatively inexpensively. Again — access to potable water, approval from Interior Health, other site factors which we'd have to consider, but it is possible relatively affordable,” Putnam said.

Coun. Sadie Hunter also thanked staff for bringing the proposal forward for consideration.

“You almost had me — those spray toys are freaking cute — but [I’m] of the same mind as my colleagues in terms of the timeframe being just too short. And I'm not sure about the ongoing use of it,” Hunter said.

Coun. Mike O’Reilly, who put forward the initial motion, said it wasn’t an ideal situation, but it’s a stopgap measure to provide cooling options for kids.

“With the money that will be spent — the $40,000 — it is going to continually be used as a waterpark as a community asset that can be used from an event to an event,” O’Reilly said.

O’Reilly said while school starts in September, many children who use the waterparks don’t attend school yet, and could still use the amenity into the fall.

The motion was defeated, with councillors O’Reilly, Singh and Dale Bass voting in favour of the temporary spray park. Mayor Ken Christian and councillors Hunter, Sinclair, Walsh, Sarai and Dieter Dudy were opposed.