Extreme heat may have some people thinking about spray parks, but they won't be open in Prince Albert before June. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Spray Parks in June

Hot weather has city turning attention to spray parks early

May 18, 2023 | 12:00 PM

A scorching start to May had some Prince Albert residents thinking about spray parks a little earlier in the season than normal. The City of Prince Albert has been thinking about them as well, but can’t accelerate their opening day too much with so much other work to do.

“We’re looking at probably the first to second week of June,” said Tim Yeaman, City of Prince Albert Parks Manager. “It’s not uncommon that we strive for those dates. The early part of our season, May, we’re experiencing unprecedented heat, which is not the norm for this time of year.”

The big focus for parks staff, according to Yeaman, has been getting sports fields up and running as those seasons start before the spray park season usually does. Charging sprinklers and replacing broken ones have been among their priorities.

“They’re also working to get the Kinsmen washrooms operational for the long weekend,” said Yeaman. “Also, we have washrooms up at Mayor Park that we’re trying to initialize, and also at the boathouse on the riverbank. So they’re working really hard. We expect after the long weekend we’ll switch our focus and work on installing components to the spray pads.”

Once those components are installed they’ll test the lines and make sure everything is working for the summer. Then they’ll be taking down the fencing they put up to protect the spray parks during the winter.

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“We’re aiming for that week of June 5, but if we can push it a little sooner we certainly will,” said Yeaman. “We understand that there’s a need but I also want to make the public aware that we are early in the season. We’ve updated the city website that reflects the spray parks will be up and operational in June.”

It’s understandable people might be thinking of spray parks earlier in the season than usual. Before wildfire smoke rolled in, this week began with back-to-back days over 30C. It’s enough to make the city a little more excited about the season to come.

“It’s just been very exciting that we’ve had a great early spring,” said Yeaman. “Things have cooperated well. We’ve been able to get out there and get the things done that people need to have done. The sporting groups are happy.”

Yeaman added the trick now was to keep those sports fields in good order in weather that has been unusually dry.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP