SUDBURY -- Sudbury's Ward 8, east of Barrydowne Road, officially turned on the water at a brand new splash pad Friday morning.
Just minutes after the water feature was opened to the public at Twin Forks Playground on Gary Avenue, kids of all ages flooded the area ready to try out the newest way to stay cool.
"I like that it's here for once, finally," said 10-year-old Isabella Greco, who was one of the first ones in the water Friday morning.
The entire project came with a price tag of approximately $130,000 and was made possible with both municipal funding and community fundraising efforts.
"This is the main type of things that the city helps fund," explained Mike Morelli, the president of the Twin Forks Park Association. "They are very economical. This splash pad itself is eco-friendly, so it actually uses about one-fourth of the water of the other splash pads around town."
City Councillor Al Sizer was on location for the first day and he said he was happy to see it finally in use.
"You get on council and you get certain projects that become very near and dear to you, and this is one of them," said Sizer. "I am so glad to see this come to fruition."
Twin Forks' splash pad is the 15th in the Sudbury area, however, officials say it was needed.
"I can't tell you the value this is going to bring to this part of the neighbourhood," said Sizer. "There is a splash pad on the other side of Lasalle, but again, very difficult for younger kids to cross that major thoroughfare. So this is really great. It's been something we've been working on for four or five years, and as you can see, the kids are already out and at it."
"We have over 1,300 kids in the area and a lot of them live in different complexes where they aren't allowed air conditioning, so this is the place to come out and cool down. This is a great big thing for this part of the city," said Morelli.
The water is running steady since the splash pad opened at 10 a.m. and every kid who was there was happy to take advantage of the cool water.
"We like the water," said 11-year-old Xander Baxter.
His 13-year-old sister, Kaitlyn, wasn't a fan of actually getting wet but was very happy to see the pad open.
"I'm happy because I am here with my friends and they're enjoying the splash pad," said Kaitlyn.
And others in the neighbourhood, like 11-year-old Brendan Walker, were excited to have something close by for the rest of the summer.
"Super amazing because I can just bike here all the time," said Walker.
The Twins Fork Park Association is still looking at ways to improve the park further with plans to add more seating and shade structures in the future.
The splash pad is open daily rom 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. and families are reminded to stay two metres away from those outside their social circle and to wash or sanitize hands before and after use to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
