By Thia James

New spray park coming to ‘heart’ of West Hill

May 30, 2015 | 8:22 AM

The City of Prince Albert will construct a new spray park in front of the West Hill Community Club.

It’s been a few years in the making. The subject of constructing a new spray park has been on the table at council since the old paddling pool at the club was demolished in order for the construction of Ecole St. Anne to move ahead.

The area in front of the club has been used as a skating area for children, and it will be the new location for the spray park. The spray park will be circular, with several water spouts and it will be removable in the winter.

The spray park will be situated within Coun. Ted Zurakowski’s Ward 8. He said construction of the new spray park will take place in a few weeks and will be ready by the end of the summer.

“This area here is a real heart and soul of the West Hill Community Club … with two schools within a couple of blocks, with a rink here, the community club. With the playground program in the summertime, it really was a miss for young families in the area. They still supported the playground program, but without that paddling pool, over the last four or five years, it’s been a real miss,” he said.

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He said it would benefit not just West Hill, but also facilities around the city.

To Zurakowski, recreation is important and this type of facility serves a need, where some other kinds of facilities wouldn’t.

“It’s a neighbourhood. Facilities like this in neighbourhood areas are really important,” he said.

The spray park will also be used by students at Ecole St. Anne, and Principal Kathy Gaudet said it will be a nice addition, especially for the younger children.

When the paddling pool was still there, the school would take younger students to the paddling pool as one of the outings. Gaudet said that the kindergarten kids would go for their year-end trip.

“So, it’ll be nice to have something like that back by the school that we can use. But I think now that we’ve grown into having a pre-kindergarten, I think we will be able to hopefully make more use of it.”

There were other locations suggested, but for Zurakowski, this location is ideal because it is a gathering place.

“It really is still, despite expansion in the West Hill, this is the heart and soul of the community.”

Spray parks and paddling pools now open

Spray Parks:
Bernice Sayese Centre (1301 13th Street West)
Parkland Community Club (1510 Ninth Avenue West)
Westview Community School (620 McArthur Drive)
Miller Hill (200 MacDowall Crescent)
Midtown Community Club (540 Ninth Street East)

Paddling Pools:
Crescent Heights (995 Cook Drive)
Hazeldell (325 Third Avenue North West)
Ella Muzzy in Kinsmen Park (25 22nd Street East)

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames