Water park officially opened

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Under sunny Tsawwassen summer skies and with a large group of youngsters anxiously waiting for the water to be turned on, the Rotary WaterWorks water park at Diefenbaker Park was officially opened Thursday (Aug. 4).

A combined project led by the Tsawwassen Rotary Club and Corporation of Delta, the facility situated in the former gravel pit uses its natural slopes to allow water to run through streams down to a recycled, rubber-surfaced splash pad chock full of water cannons, fountains and elevated buckets providing regular dumps of water perfect to cool off on a hot summer day.

Mayor Lois Jackson was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally dedicate the park, which has already been in use for the past couple of weeks, and said she was delighted to now have a water play facility in each of Delta's three communities.

She was also pleased to see the partnership between the Rotary Club and Corporation of Delta work so well under the Community Initiated Cost Sharing Program where groups are requested to raise 50 per cent of a project.

"In this case the Rotary Club surpassed the 50 per cent requirement and contributed $275,000. Isn't that wonderful. That was both in-kind and financially," Jackson said. "That is a major accomplishment toward the total project cost of over $500,000."

Rotarian Vickie Sangster, chairperson of the Rotary WaterWorks project, thanked all the volunteers and contractors who gave their time to the water park and added that she feels a great sense of satisfaction when seeing youngsters enjoy themselves at the facility.

"When I hear the kids playing here, that does it for me," Sangster told the crowd. "That's all I need to hear and that's why we built a park. So, may many happy memories be made here."

Diefenbaker Park is located at 5579 1st Ave.