Hot summer days may be a bit more bearable in Kitimat as council referred a splash park for consideration in the 2023 budget.
Local resident Mary John presented a petition to council Dec. 5 with 126 signatures, painting a picture of a park where kids could cool down in the summer with benches, grass and places to hang out.
“Everybody was talking about the lack of facilities for young people,” she said. “It was so hot, the pools closed, there were no wading pools and the young children couldn’t get to the lake.”
John said Terrace’s splash park partly inspired the petition, as it is heavily used and an important part of the community.
A splash park was put forward by council in previous years but never made it into the budget.
In a letter to council, it was urged that the splash park takes into account aging infrastructure and replaces one of the existing wading pools.
“I think we’d get a lot of happy people and a lot of happy kids,” John said.
Council will have their first budget deliberations this coming Monday, Dec. 12.