The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Reaction to inflatable water park mixed
Feedback — good and bad — on an inflatable water park on First Lake in Lower Sackville flowed in at a virtual public meeting Tuesday night.
But despite concerns raised by residents, the floating obstacle course and playground, featuring a custom-made unicorn and tugboat, will go up behind the Sackville Arena once the permits are received and COVID protocols are cleared.
“This is like many other businesses, where if it meets the regulatory approval, it can proceed,” Coun. Paul Russell responded, when asked if the business was inevitable.
The Lower Sackville councillor said he’d heard from many people since Splashifax announced in late April it intended to open mid-june.
So along with Dave Wolpin and Jon Rasenberg, coowners of Splashifax, Russell set up a public meeting to give more details and answer questions.
While there will be some changes outside of the Sackville Arena, Rasenberg said there will be no changes to the shoreline.
“We built a special ramp that comes up and over and down to our floating dock, which will not impede or affect the shoreline at all,” Rasenberg said of the 60metre dock to be installed.
The trees and access to the nearby trail will also go untouched, he said.
Beside the Sackville Arena, there will be additions of change stalls, picnic tables and a ticket booth, as well as a food stand by Lee’s Lemonade.
The water park is to allow a maximum of 50 people per 1.5-hour time slot and will operate from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m seven days a week.
“This is all COVID dependent. If we have to delay opening because of COVID, then we delay opening,” Wolpin said.
“If people don’t get their vaccines and the variants take hold ... and we can’t open at all this summer because of COVID, then we don’t open.”
But something about a large inflated unicorn didn’t sit well with some of the residents who live in the area.
“So what about the disrupted view to sunsets?” asked Lorne Piercey. “Don’t really want to look at a pink unicorn.”
Jillian Langille echoed Piercey’s comments, adding, “The Friends of First Lake have done a lot to make this a naturally beautiful area. Not feeling like this fits at all.”
Meanwhile, others had concerns about noise levels and the water quality of First Lake.
Speaking on behalf of Splashifax, Russell said unlike a bouncy castle, the items in the water park will only be inflated at the beginning of the season.
“If they need to be reinflated, there will be a hose taken out to them and they will be reinflated,” Russell said.
Russell also said there will be water tests weekly for E.coli and Splashifax will not be using water chemicals to clean the objects, life jackets and other items that may come into contact with the water. People are also encouraged to wear water-friendly sunscreen.
By the time 9:30 p.m. rolled around, Russell noted the trio wasn’t able to address all of the questions “by any stretch.”
Wolpin invited people to reach out to Splashifax (hello@splashifax.com) or Russell (paul.russell@halifax.ca).
“We have already actually made specific changes to our plans because of specific requests and specific things that people have brought to us that made sense ... so I would say write us an email,” Wolpin said.