Pop-Up City Spray Parks Cool Down Hot Summer Days

Air conditioners keep rooms cool but if you want to cool down and have fun, giant sprinklers in the park are much better.

As part of the This is My Neighbourhood initiative, we worked with communities around Calgary to identify ways to help make city neighbourhoods an even better place to live, work and play.

“When we asked residents, in participating communities, what would make their neighbourhoods even better, they all mentioned spray parks,” explained This is My Neighbourhood coordinator Katie Thorpe. “As The City can’t build full, permanent spray parks in all neighbourhoods, Calgary Fire had the creative idea to use existing fire hydrants to bring pop-up spray parks to them.”
Shelley Steele, community safety officer with Calgary Fire, helped get the idea off the ground. She and her team saw this as the perfect opportunity to engage Community Safety Officers and Fire crews with children and families across the city in a fun, unique and educational way.
“Our Fire Department is proud of our partnership with all those involved with This is My Neighbourhood,” says Steele. “The kids love it because they see our firefighters getting involved in a fun activity, not an emergency situation. What started as an example of what we could do turned into something that we’re doing and it’s all about engagement.”
As part of the fun, staff from the Calgary Fire Department also take a moment to touch on key fire safety.

Children in Abbeydale, Thorncliffe/Greenview and Millican Ogden got to test out the spray park over the past few weeks and a there are a few more dates to come in the neighbourhoods of Chaparral and Glendale.

This is a great way for people in the neighbourhood, kids and adults alike, to come out and play together. Having fun and getting to know each other is an important part of creating vibrant and connected communities with deeper implications than a fun way to cool off on a hot day.

Simple, fun activities like pop-up spray parks can help form connections. Strong and connected communities lead to a number of social and community benefits including reduced isolation, improved health and local vibrancy.
When communities thrive, the people who live there thrive too.

Upcoming Spray ‘n’ Play events:

• Chaparral: Saturday August 25, 1-3 p.m., Chaparral Valley Square Green Space
• Glendale: Saturday September 8, 1-4 p.m., Optimist Athletic Park

For more on other initiatives happening in neighbourhoods across Calgary check out Calgary.ca/TIMN.

Beat the heat this summer at a wading pool, spray park or outdoor pool

What better way to beat the heat than by visiting one of Calgary’s many wading pools, spray parks and outdoor pools?

Variety Spray Park rendering.

City spray parks and wading pools are now open at:

• Eau Claire Plaza, 
• Valley View Park, 
• Prairie Winds Park, and
• Riley Park. 

Several more are scheduled to open in early July.
  
The newly developed Variety Spray Park in South Glenmore Park, is tentatively scheduled to open July 19. The spray park has been undergoing major redevelopment.

Get out there and have fun

New features include an interactive spray park, picnic tables and enhanced landscaping. Updated mechanical equipment and a new water treatment system greatly improve the spray park’s efficiency. The redevelopment is funded by the Community Investment Fund, created by Council in 2011 to help fund community improvement projects.

The Calgary Outdoor Swimming Pool Association (COSPA) opened its pools this past weekend. COSPA manages seven community-run pools throughout Calgary, including the newly restored Stanley Park Outdoor Pool.

Silver Springs Outdoor Pool to be redeveloped

Silver Springs Outdoor Pool will open this month but will be closed in 2016 for redevelopment. After extensive community engagement, we have committed funds to redevelop the existing pool basin, which has served the community since 1974.

Additional funding is also available thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Silver Springs Outdoor Pool Fundraising Foundation. The pool will reopen in 2017.

Submitted by the Communications Team, Recreation

Prairie Winds Spray park re-opening Wednesday, August 27

Join us at Prairie Winds Park on Wednesday, August 27 to celebrate the re-opening of the newly renovated spray park.

Artist's concept of the park - Come out and see the real thing!

The free event begins at 9:30 a.m. with a short presentation by Councillor Ray Jones, Ward 5, and Anne Charlton, The City of Calgary Parks director.

Kid-friendly activities, light refreshments and lots of water fun are also planned for the opening.

A design first for North America

The spray park has been outfitted with brand new and upgraded spray and water features. Its design is the first of its kind in North America.

The upgrades and new equipment were made possible with funding from the Council-created Community Investment Fund (CIF). Through CIF, City Council gives back to Calgarians by investing in and supporting new community projects and critical lifecycle upgrades throughout the city.

What: Prairie Winds Spray Park re-opening

When: Wednesday, August 27 at 9:30 a.m.

Where:         Prairie Winds Park, 223 Castleridge Blvd. N.E.

Parking is available in the north parking lot, located off of Westwinds Crescent N.E. There is also a parking lot off of 54 Avenue N.E. As parking can fill up quickly, carpooling or taking Calgary Transit is also encouraged. Visit Calgary Transit to plan your route to the opening.

Read more about the Prairie Winds Spray Park upgrades. Join our Facebook event to find out who else is going and follow the latest developments.

Submitted by Erin Martinez, Parks

Prairie Winds Park Redevelopment: Your park, your say

Prairie Winds Park, one of Calgary’s most well-used and well-loved regional parks, is being redeveloped, and we want your input and ideas.

From July 14 to August 2, you can share your thoughts on the new park design. Public input will help inform and shape how the park looks and what elements and features should be included.

Ways to engage

To kick off engagement, The City is asking citizens to provide their feedback on the following two questions:

1. What do you like most about Prairie Winds Park?
2. What changes would improve Prairie Winds Park?

The different ways to share input and answer the questions are:

In-person

• Provide comments on the sounding board located at Prairie Winds Park. Input and ideas are welcome in English, Punjabi, Urdu, Tagalog, Arabic and Gujarati.
• Participate in Flag Day at Prairie Winds Park on July 26 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Use flags to vote on areas of the park you like, and areas where you’d like to see change.

Online

• Take part in the online survey.
• Talk it over with others on Twitter using #prairiewindspark.

Text/SMS Messaging

• Text your feedback to 331-431-5333 (Normal messaging rates apply. Check with your cell phone provider for details).

Prairie Winds Park opened nearly 25 years ago to serve the growing communities east of the airport. The redevelopment will revitalize the park and provide much-needed upgrades and improvements so it can continue to serve the communities around it. The newly renovated spray park, scheduled to reopen early August, will also be included in the new park design.

More information on how to get involved is also available at calgary.ca/prairiewindspark. Questions or comments can be emailed to parks@calgary.ca, or contact 311.

Submitted by Erin Martinez, City of Calgary Parks