Kids enjoy the grand opening of the new splash park at Westview Park in Marwayne after the village waited three years for funding to come through to build the project. The project was paid for by the County of Vermilion River, the federal government, as well as funds from the village reserves. Supplied Photo
The children of Marwayne and the surrounding area have a fun way to keep cool this summer.
On June 26, the village officially unveiled a brand-new splash park within the community.
“We had our grand opening last night from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Westview Park where it’s located. We did a ribbon cutting and our mayor gave a speech and we turned it on for the first time,” said Shannon Harrower, CAO for the Village of Marwayne.
“It was a beautiful night; it was super sunny. We have a group of kids in the community that have a little ice cream golf cart, so they were there giving out ice cream.”
The idea for the splash park got its start a few years ago when the Village of Marwayne applied for funding.
“We had applied for the grant funding three years ago and we got wind we were approved last year and then we began construction right away … we finalized all of the landscaping last month and opened it up,” Harrower explained.
“It’s open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, unless there’s a water restriction in place for any reason, but otherwise it’s open 10 to 8. It’s going to be open from June until September—the Labour Day weekend every year.”
She said they’re hoping the park attracts new visitors to the village.
“When you come into Marwayne—if you go down 2nd Ave., which is the road our school is on and our community hall is on … if you just drive straight down that road to the end you’ll see a big grass field, you can park there and then you can take the walking path up to the splash park,” said Harrower.
The walking path was also built using a portion of the grant money.
“The project in total—we did 1,000 metres of walking trail and we did the splash park, so it was all under one big umbrella project,” explained Harrower.
The Village of Marwayne received $25,000 from the County of Vermilion River from their park trust reserve, $375,000 from the federal government under the Canada Community Revitalization Fund program, and the village contributed $100,000 from its reserves.
“Half a million dollars—for a small community it’s a really big deal,” Harrower added.
“I’m really glad that the kids are enjoying it and I think that it’s going to bring lots of people into Marwayne.”
