McDonald Park Spray Park to be ready for long weekend

Jun 29, 2016 | 5:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — The people who used to enjoy the McDonald Park Pool weren’t happy when the site was demolished in April, but the city is confident residents will find much enjoyment in the nearly completed spray park serving as its replacement.

The grand opening of the $500,000 project isn’t until July 8, but the spray park should be up and running by Friday – just in time for the long weekend. 

According to capital projects manager, Darren Crundwell, it was a deadline that wasn’t easy to meet.

“We were pouring concrete last weekend … we’re still commissioning the toys, going through a whole process just to make sure they all work and whatnot. It just takes time,” Crundwell said. “We took what probably would be an eight to 10 week project and tried to do it in half that time so you always have challenges when you do that.

“We wanted the … park open for the long weekend, so that’s what we’ve been pushing to try and do.”

Turf now covers the area where the pool used to be, and the new spray park – equipped with 30 toys – sits next to the renovated change rooms. The site should be an ideal place to cool down during the hot summer months.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest and most unique parks in the city,” Crundwell said. “I think once the public sees the size of the park, the shape of the park, how it works with the trees, and the number of spray toys everybody’s going to be pretty happy.”