Read article : RM of Pipestone gets $10K grant for spray park
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The RM of Pipestone is one of 78 recipients receiving a grant from Farm Credit Canada, awarded $10,000 toward a new spray park expected to open next summer.
A spray park has been a topic of discussion for approximately the last 30 years, according to Tanis Chalmers, economic development officer for the RM of Pipestone, but planning only started picking up within the last two years.
"Five years ago, we were really aggressively looking at it but nothing really came of it," Chalmers said.
"Then in the last year and a half, council put a committee together to do some research … and last fall they announced funding of up to $500,000 toward the splash park, but we also needed to fundraise and have sponsorship for the remaining costs."
The 3,000-square-foot spray park will be located adjacent to the Reston Campground and golf course.
It will include washrooms and showers for spray park visitors as well as campground visitors.
"It’s the first splash park in the province that we know of that will have an elevated structure with a waterslide," Chalmers said.
"It will also have a really large dump bucket and something called a Water Journey, similar to a trough system … It’s on the ground and it’s for racing little boats, or manipulating the water in different directions."
Construction has already started on the spray park, Chalmers said, and is expected to be open for local families and tourists alike next season.
"We have a lot of young families living in the communities and the numbers have gone up in our school system, so it’s definitely going to be great a great asset … We currently don’t have any water activities for the summer in the area — we don’t have a pool, we don’t have a lake nearby, so this is definitely going to be good," Chalmers said.
"It’s also going to be great for attracting new tourist traffic, along with our campground and the golf course being right there as well."
The RM of Pipestone Recreation Development Committee is still waiting on some quotes for sewer and water installations, but the spray park — including bathroom and shower facilities — is estimated to cost approximately $700,000, Chalmers said.
"The grant (from FCC) is going to make a huge dent in the overall cost of the construction," Chalmers added.
The RM of Pipestone received the grant through the FCC AgriSpirit Fund, which awards between $5,000 and $25,000 for rural community improvement projects, such as hospitals and medical centres, fire and rescue equipment, playgrounds, food banks, libraries, arenas, swimming pools, recreation areas and community centres.
"The FCC AgriSpirit Fund is an investment in rural Canada," FCC executive vice-president and chief operating officer Sophie Perreault said in a statement.
"It’s about partnering with individuals and groups who are committing their time and energy for the purpose of bettering their communities."
In honour of Canada 150, the fund was increased this year from $1 million to $1.5 million to distribute to communities across Canada. There were more than 1,200 applications nationally this year.
» edebooy@brandonsun.com
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