With a push of two buttons by two lucky kids, water was spraying at the new Kimberley Splash Park, and within a minute the park was filled with children enjoying this new recreation facility.
The Kimberley Splash Park officially opened on a hot and sunny Sunday, June 25, with a brief ceremony, as the care and maintenance of the park was handed over to the City of Kimberley from the Kimberley Rotary Club.
Gathered at the ceremony were many of the major funders of the project, as well as a large group of children eager to try it out.
Jeff Cooper was the MC and he gave a brief history of the project, beginning with a parents committee who began in 2010 before passing the project over to Rotary.
Cooper then thanked and presented plaques to representatives from the major partners and donors who include the Class of 1975, the Class of 2005, the City of Kimberley, Paul Cameron from Exact Tax, Darren Shaben of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, Terry Oscarson from the Kimberley Community Foundation, Jean Irvin from the KIOTAC Legacy Fund, Dawneen Robison from the Kimberley Spray Park Society, Gail Goyer from the Kootenay Savings Foundation, Rod and Tamara Duggan from Tamarack Dispensaries, Sonia Rota from Western Financial Group Kimberley Branch and Laurie Cordell from Columbia Basin Trust, which provided almost half the $300,000 budget.
Cooper also thanked Kimberley Rotarian Graham Mann, who was a big part of the fundraising, and Rotarians Mike Cave, who took charge of the project, and Sandra Roberts, who wrote many of the grants.
Then after drawing tickets, two lucky kids were gien the opportunity to hit the buttons to start the water spraying.
Mike Cave says that the end result could not have been accomplished without tremendous support from many diverse groups.
“Originally a small group of Kimberley parents, the Kimberley Spray Park Society , started this project in 2010, planning out the location and features that the park should have. When the Kimberley Rotary Club assumed the project in 2014 our main focus was the raising of approximately $350,000 . Thanks to the generous support of our local newspaper and radio stations the word was soon out there about Kimberley’s newest community facility.
“We were fortunate to have a supplier, an engineering firm and a contractor who not only provided great value, but also supplied us with invaluable advice before and during construction. Our thanks go out to them for the excellent help provided. The City of Kimberley also deserves recognition, not only for their in kind work assistance but for their close cooperation with the Rotary club once again. Without this cooperation the project would never have been so successful.
“The support of local businesses and organizations was the lifeblood of the splash park. Without the generous cash donations, gifts of services and items for our raffles and auctions we could never have raised the money required. A special thanks must go to the Columbia Basin Trust who contributed almost half of the funding, allowing the project to be built in late 2016.
“It is the faith shown by the local citizens in a club of less than 20 members that is most gratifying. They showed that they had no doubt we would complete the project and demonstrated it by purchasing raffle tickets, attending Rotary events like the Lobsterfest, buying auction items and of course by coming out for our many pancake breakfasts. Thank you so much for the support and trust that you gave the club over the last three years of splash park fundraising.”