Splash pad about to spout

Sault Ste. Marie's first splash pad will open this summer in Bellevue Park, members of the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee were assured Tuesday night.

Virginia McLeod, the city's manager for recreation and culture, said four bids have been received in response to a request for proposals and are currently being reviewed.

The successful proposal will be presented to City Council for approval at its next meeting on Monday, March 19. Preparatory work at the west end of Bellevue Park just off Shore Drive is expected to start shortly after the snow clears.

A small building will be built to house the splash pad's mechanical components and underground services must be provided to the new structure.

McLeod tells SooToday that many of the features requested by Saultites in a recent survey will be incorporated into the splash pad design, including high-level spouts that dump water, user-activated features and spray tunnels.  

The current request for proposals doesn't include a washroom/change facility, but McLeod says we'll find out around the end of this month whether the city's application for an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant has been accepted.

"Depending on where that goes, that may allow us to have additional amenities. If some of that additional funding comes through, that's going to allow us to expand the site," McLeod told us.

What's up with Councillor Shoemaker and parks?

There was also discussion about this week's approval by City Council of a resolution from Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Shoemaker proposing two new parks: one downtown and one in Jamestown.

Although the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee exists to advise City Council, it so far has not been asked to weigh in on Shoemaker's push for new parks to help alleviate the Sault's opioid crisis, as depicted in last month's CTV/Vice Canada documentary Steel Town Down.

Sam Cistaro, a committee member and former producer for theScore specialty television channel, expressed doubt about Councillor Shoemaker's commitment to parks.

"Doesn't anybody see through Matthew Shoemaker?" Cistaro asked at Tuesday night's meeting.

"Last year, he wanted to cut park funding. All of a sudden, in an election year, he sees something happen in the national media and he's 'okay, we want parks now.' I've been trying to get my two councillors to put a park in my neighbourhood for three years and they're getting nowhere. Matthew Shoemaker says 'I want a park' and we're going to get two," Cistaro said.

In February 2016, Councillor Shoemaker introduced a resolution to City Council questioning the number of parks needed in the Sault, asking for an estimate of how much money could be raised selling unnecessary parks.

The following month, he suggested cutting city spending on parks maintenance, and in September 2016 Shoemaker asked for a survey of parks usage to determine whether changes were needed to park configurations, purpose or use.

Last November, he asked for a review of the city's practice of accepting donations of parkland from developers of new subdivisions, expressing worries about the cost to the city of servicing new parks.

Cistaro got some seasoned political advice Tuesday night from another committee member, former City Clerk William Lindsay.

"It's the political process, Sam. Short and sweet," Lindsay told him.

"I'm not sure that we're going to get two new parks," added committee chair Dean Greenwood.

"Out of the existing parks there, I think there might be a change in the landscape there slightly."

Greenwood said that the proposal for new green spaces might nonetheless be useful.

"It's great that it's out there, because you might see some movement in terms of the budget dollars," he said.