After four years planning, this could be the year for the Fernie splash park.
“A proposal was presented by the Leisure Services Advisory Board four years ago,” said Director of Leisure Services Allan Knibbs.
Knibbs said that the splash park is in the current budget and that Leisure Services is currently in the engineering stage of the project.
“We are waiting for approval on our designs from the Interior Health Authority,” he said.
Knibbs said that Interior Health is concerned about water quality.
Leisure Services wants to make sure that the water is filtered and that it does not go to waste.
Knibbs said that Interior Health requires that the filtration system used for the splash park is better than that used at the pool at the Aquatic Centre.
“We need to install a secondary filtration system. That’s what we’re working on with Interior Health right now,” he said.
The splash park will be in the Aquatic Centre grounds.
Leisure Services is working with the same engineers that the District of Sparwood is using for their splash park.
Knibbs said that the splash park has been on the Leisure Services budget for the past four years. The Leisure Services budget is on a five year cycle and there is now the proper funding for it in their budget.
“The changes in the regulations since the splash park was proposed have been an obstacle,” he said.
Knibbs is reasonably optimistic that the splash park could be up and running this summer.