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By Chris Brown

Strathcona and Central spray parks to open

Two city spray parks to open June 13

Jun 12, 2020 | 3:26 PM

It’s going to be hot this weekend and now Hatters will have two more ways to cool down.

The city announced that the spray parks in both Strathcona Island Park and Kiwanis Central Park will be open on June 13. The park washrooms will be open with safety protocols in place.

“Regulations imposed for spray parks were relatively easy to action, so we were able to prepare two of our parks in short order,” said Scott Richter, manager of Parks for the City of Medicine Hat. “We will look to bring on the other two (Ross Glen and Saamis) as quickly as possible, under the constraints of staffing considerations and safety protocols.”

The City reminds residents that relaunching amenities and facilities takes time, particularly with the need to address COVID-19 related requirements.

“You’ve heard us say that we can’t just ‘flip a switch’ and open a facility,” says James Will, General Manager of Parks and Recreation. “We hope our community understands that it takes all hands on deck to deploy some of these relaunch protocols, which means service levels in other areas may decline for a short duration in order to satisfy our community’s yearning for amenities to return.”

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Safety measures in place at the parks will include:

• Staff will effectively double their cleaning checks at each washroom.
• Water will run for 30% longer each time the button is pressed to reduce the number of times the button needs to be touched.
• Park benches and seating areas will be cleaned and may be removed in order to adhere to physical distancing restrictions.
• New signage is installed warning that the structures are not sanitized, and to continue measures to prevent spread of COVID-19 like practice physical distancing, carry/use hand sanitizer, and stay home if sick.
• Washroom access will be limited to one family or individual at a time in order to abide by 2 metre distancing requirements.
• Only washrooms at the Strathcona Island spray park and Kiwanis Central Park spray park will be opening this weekend. Other park washrooms will follow at a later date.

“Through this entire process, we are trusting our community to use discretion and make responsible choices to help mitigate virus transmission,” adds Will.