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Locals petition for outdoor splash park

A petition calling on the Town of Westlock to support the construction of an outdoor splash park has already garnered more than 450 signatures, barely a week after it was created.
Barrhead Splash Park
A Westlock group is circulating a petition to support construction of an outdoor spray park, similar to what’s currently in Barrhead (pictured). Westlock does has an indoor spray park located inside the Aquatic Centre.

A petition calling on the Town of Westlock to support the construction of an outdoor splash park has already garnered more than 450 signatures, barely a week after it was created.
“My friends and I have been talking about this for years and never could understand why every little community we go to — Athabasca, St. Paul, Barrhead — everywhere we go there is a splash park, but not in Westlock,” said Janice Johnston, one of several organizers of the petition.
Westlock has had a spray park area inside the Aquatic Centre since 2012, but the petition aims to have a free, accessible, outdoor area for kids to play in the summertime. She also points out that Barrhead has one inside its pool as well, but also maintains an outdoor facility.
“It costs me $17 to take my kids to the pool,” she said. “And it’s freezing cold and my kids need to be outside in the summer. We need a place for moms to get together, facilitate groups and do things outside with our kids.
“Our kids spend so much time inside for the six months of winter, let’s find some things to do outside.”
Johnston said she recently travelled with her children to Barrhead to use the splash park and while she was there she bought a tank of gas, lunch and ice cream for the kids. That’s money that could have just as easily been spent in Westlock, said Johnston. She also saw numerous Westlock residents there for the same reason.
The petition has taken off, much to the surprise and delight of organizers.
“We started this on Sunday (May 27) as a ‘That’s it, we’re doing something’ kind of thing and now it has blossomed into me talking to businesses and talking about grants and talking to designers,” said another organizer, Kerri Lesyk.
“It’s happened very quickly and there’s been a lot of people who want to step in to help and that makes it a lot easier.”
Lesyk hopes to hold a meeting to form a committee to oversee the development of the project in the near future.
She also said she expects to fundraise for the cost of the initial project, but will likely approach the town to provide the land, yearly maintenance and water.
“We’re not really going to stop at the spray park. Depending on the location, I’d like to put a dry park with it, a gazebo, picnic tables, benches. I want to make this a community area for everyone to come together, whether it’s grandparents watching their grandchildren, or birthday parties,” said Lesyk.
Organizers are hoping to have at least 500 signatures on the petition before approaching town council for support.
The petition can be found at www.petitions24/splash_pad. You can also follow the progress of the campaign by joining the Facebook group called Westlock Community Splash Park.
“I just want to make sure I can explore all the avenues to make this spray park the best it can be,” said Lesyk.

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