Who could blame members of the Osoyoos Splash Park Committee if they lie awake at night envisioning hundreds of smiling children gathered at Jack Shaw Gardens on another sensational summer day having a wonderful time?
After years of talk that eventually turned to disappointment, it appears a state-of-the-art splash park for the Town of Osoyoos is going to become a reality over the next four or five months.
Not only has Town of Osoyoos council given its support and agreed to release $100,000 that has been sitting in a reserve fund to help build the park, but the local volunteer splash park committee last week officially kicked off a community fundraising initiative.
While the final price tag for the Osoyoos Splash Park, which will be located at Jack Shaw Gardens off Kingfisher Drive near Legion Beach, has yet to be finalized, it will be in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.
With $100,000 in the bank and organizations like the Osoyoos Rotary Club having already raised significant funds, there’s absolutely no reason to believe the splash park won’t become a reality and open to the public in June or July.
Considering Osoyoos offers “Canada’s Warmest Welcome” and has the hottest temperatures in the country during the spring, summer and fall, there’s little doubt a brand new splash park is going to be a huge success in this community.
It will be a huge success not only with local residents, but also with the tens of thousands of visitors who flock here to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and hot weather.
The topic of opening a splash park in Osoyoos has been around dating back more than a decade.
About five years ago, members of Town of Osoyoos council once again threw its support behind the idea and a community fundraising initiative was undertaken.
However, the brutal national and worldwide recession of 2008 hit like a sledgehammer across the country and things fell apart.
Last year, several community-minded individuals, including newly-elected town councillors Mike Plante and Sue McKortoff helped form the splash park committee.
Committee members have been working diligently for several months to ensure this project would become a reality and every member of this committee deserves congratulations on a job well done.
Members of the committee have visited numerous other splash parks in British Columbia and had the opportunity to see first-hand how popular they are and what a wonderful amenity they become to the community.
Plante and Gerald Davis, the town’s director of community services, have little doubt the public fundraising campaign is going to be a huge success in the coming weeks and months.
The residents and business owners of Osoyoos never cease to support a worthwhile cause and there’s no reason to believe they aren’t going to get excited and dig into their wallets once again to support this new splash park.
Osoyoos is already a very busy place during the summer months as visitors flock from across the province, across Canada and around the world.
Having a brand new splash park is only going to enhance this community’s reputation as a great place to visit and is sure to become one of the most popular amenities this community has ever built.