By Thia James

Kinsmen water slides’ rebuild moving forward: Mayor

Dec 8, 2014 | 8:47 PM

Restoration work on the Kinsmen Water Park’s slides will get underway in the new year, even with snow on the ground, according to Prince Albert’s mayor, Greg Dionne.

The air of uncertainty hanging over the slides’ future has all but disappeared with the surprise disclosure from the mayor that a major player in the community has agreed to donate $50,000 towards the project.

The actual announcement revealing the donor to the public will come soon, Dionne promised. The donor is the charitable arm of one of the largest employers in Prince Albert. The City applied for $75,000, but the donor informed the City it would receive $50,000.

On Monday, Dionne said the fundraising totals have now hit $150,000. The City has committed $60,000, with a promise of putting up to $100,000 in total towards the project. The cost to rebuild the slides is currently pegged at $260,000. The City has issued a request for proposal (RFP).

“So, I am pleased to say, that now that we have got another grant, that we are moving forward,” he said after Monday’s council meeting.

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The water slides were off limits to visitors to the Kinsmen Water Park during the 2014 season. The City fenced off the slides due to safety concerns.

An engineering report showed both the fibreglass slides and the metal structure holding up the slides posed a safety risk to the park’s users.

After committing a portion of the cost to rebuild the slides, the City turned to organizations within the community, sought grants and made sponsorship proposals in order to close in on the full amount needed. The water park was also a finalist in the TSN/Kraft Celebration Tour, a feat that brought in $25,000 for the project.

With the RFP out, Dionne said the City will go to the tendering process “so that the work can start early in the spring so the park will be open sometime in the summer.”

Although Dionne is unsure when the work will start, as he understands it, the work to take the current slides down can begin even with snow still on the ground.

“Because one thing that has to happen, it has to come down and then be rebuilt. So, it’ll probably start well before the spring to remove the structure and then to put the structure back up in the spring, because we want it operational as quick[ly] as we can in the summer of 2015.”

Previously, the City’s director of community services, Jody Boulet, explained that the RFP would provide the City with an updated cost for the project.

When asked whether he was 100 per cent confident the water slides would reopen in 2015, Dionne said “yes.”

Dionne said the next step is to see where the RFP comes in — the City may or may not continue to seek funding from within the community,depending on the updated project cost. If the cost is greater than $260,000, then the City will have to seek additional funding, but if it is much less, then it likely won’t need the additional funds.

“Here’s another great example of the community coming together and working on a project,” Dionne said.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames