Splash pad coming to Adsum Park

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This article was published 13/07/2022 (1181 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BY CODY SELLAR

STAFF REPORTER

THE MAPLES

The countdown to splash down at Maples Community Centre is on. On July 4, the City of Winnipeg, alongside the provincial and federal governments, announced plans to build a new splash pad in Adsum Park (434 Adsum Dr.).

“We’re very excited. This will be a beautiful addition, and I made sure I asked the designers to have aesthetic colours, so even in wintertime, it will look pretty,” said Derek Dabee, whose final day as president of the Maples Community Centre concurred with the announcement.

The project’s scope extends beyond the 3,000-square-foot accessible splash pad and will include asphalt pathways, seating areas, fencing, benches, picnic tables, a bike rack, shade structures, and fresh landscaping.

Dabee said the project is a long-needed boost to recreation options in The Maples.

“We, in north Winnipeg, obviously are not funded enough for green spaces and recreation facilities, so this is excellent for our community,” Dabee, who is a trustee in the Seven Oaks School Division, said.

Incoming community centre president Vick Chahal said the project will liven up the neighbourhood, particularly for children.

“The splash pad is going to be awesome for the kids,” he said. “Take, for example, if you go downtown and you drive past Cumberland, that splash pad is used even on days like today where it’s overcast and drizzling. Kids are still using it … they’re going to be flocking here, and the best part is, they’ll be away from a device.”

Coun. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) advocated the splash pad through city hall and said the spot near the Maples Multiplex Arena and Seven Oaks Pool was a natural fit, both because it’s an established recreation hub and because it serves a large catchment area.

“The next step was how do we enhance this recreation space,” Sharma said.

The councillor said she believes it is an important project for numerous reasons.

“It brings people together naturally,” she said. “It allows families to make memories not only with themselves but with their neighbours.”

Funding to the tune of $1 million is set to flow in from all three levels of government. The city has allocated $300,000 from the Old Kildonan Land Dedication Reserve Fund; the province is chipping in $300,000 from the Building Sustainable Communities Program; and the federal government has approved $400,000 through the Canada Community Building Fund.

Sharma said the next step will be to work with community centre volunteers and the McGowan Russell Group, the landscape architects currently enlisted for the project, to draw up plans for the splash pad and recreation area.

Once those plans are approved, construction can begin. The city expects to break ground in spring of 2023, with the park being completed and open to the neighbourhood in the summer of 2024.