Mission plots big spray park on a tight timeline

Photo: Mission staff looked at other spray parks, including a popular new one in Kamloops, before sketching out their plan for a new local facility. 📷 City of Mission 

Mission wants to build a big, brand new spray park—even though the cost will be much higher than previously budgeted.

They also want to preserve trees, consult with parents and kids, create a dog park—and get it done right away, with at least one councillor hoping kids to be able to start playing in the water next summer.

The plan

For years, Mission residents have been telling their local politicians they desperately need a bigger, better spray park. And the politicians have been telling them they’ll build one.

Now, though, comes the hard part.

Last May, the city set aside $1.5 million for a “destination spray park” that could serve kids from all over the fast-growing city. It also hired a private company to consider a handful of sites for the new attraction. When the report made its way to council in November, the municipality’s politicians looked at the report, overruled its recommended location, and suggested they’d be fine with a bigger and better park.

Instead of Griner Park, an already busy park in the middle of Mission, Council settled on a vacant piece of land on Emiry Street, at the far north end of town. The property is in the boonies now, but surrounding pieces of land are slated for development and a lot across the road has been identified as the site of a future school. Building in that location would cost more, but would add new park capacity in an underserved part of the city.

Council sent staff to sketch out a plan for a new park and get a price tag. This week, after considering similar facilities in Kamloops and Maple Ridge and plotting out what’s possible locally, parks director Louis Dauphin returned to council.

The price tag

A new spray park at Emiry, Dauphin told council, would cost between $4.3 and $4.9 million, depending on the scale of a parking lot, the addition of change rooms, and whether the site would also have a basketball court or playground. Those figures, though, don’t include design costs.

While it will cost triple what Mission previously budgeted, the city’s councillors—even generally the most cost-conscious of the bunch—didn’t back away from the project.

They said a new spray facility had been at the top of residents’ wish list, and that the current spray park is already overcrowded and full of kids and parents.

“The number one thing I heard from families when I was running for council is ‘We need a spray park, I need a place I can take my kids,” Coun. Angel Elias said. “I feel like we need to give this to our community.”

In addition to two different spray park segments—one for younger kids and one for older children—the suggested design includes two large off-leash dog areas, along with a winding path through what is now a heavily forested area.

Although the consultants report suggested delivering water to the site could be a costly challenge, staff said that development in the area is likely to minimize that problem. Getting people to the site—especially those who might walk or take transit—might be more of an issue, they said.

Council’s biggest concern was the towering trees on the lot and the potential that they would all be axed to create the new park. All councillors urged staff to develop a plan that would preserve as many as possible.

Council also backed a recirculating water system for the park. While costing up to $300,000 more, such a system would not only help limit water use, but also allow the park to continue operating during droughts when water restrictions stiffen.

Council sent staff to develop a more fulsome plan and begin consulting with the public about which spray park features they’d like to see. Coun. Jag Gill added that kids, not just parents, should be asked about what they want to see.

But Gill, who had promised a new spray park during his last election campaign, also implored staff to move quickly.

He said he was fine with a phased approach to the park’s construction if it meant the park could begin operation as soon as possible. He said he wanted to see the park working by next summer.

“As we build this waterpark out, it’s going to be at capacity from day one,” Gill said.