Town of Bow Island asks for patience with memorial Splash Park

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

By Anna Smith
Commentator/Courier

Coming into summer weather, Bow Island is looking to address some of the deficiencies with the Kale Porteous Splash Park.

“Our staff have put in a lot of hours trying to get it up and running and still don’t have it running,” said Mayor Gordon Reynolds. “In the meantime, it’s a beautiful facility.”

While they continue to work on getting the facility ready to go for park-goers this summer, Reynolds wants to extend a request for some patience and some care for the park.

“It’s an awesome place for kids to play, but we’re having issues with bicycles, skateboards, scooters on the surface, and actually up on some of the features, they’re causing a little bit of damage, you know, nicks and scratches and that sort of thing,” said Reynolds. “We’re urging parents in the community to talk to their kids about this out there with their children to understand that it’s not a skate park, it’s intended to be a waterpark, and unfortunately, we’re having issues with water.”

The facility cost a good deal of money, explained Reynolds, and staff are already busy with the maintenance and operation of the park, and cannot be present to supervise.

“If it’s not treated respectfully, then there’s going to be issues,” said Reynolds. “Security surveillance down there. And if we see anything that’s done maliciously, we will seek to identify the individuals involved, and there will be consequences. In the meantime, we’re just asking the public for personal cooperation and respect.”

Individuals are encouraged to keep their bikes, skateboards, and scooters off of the surface, and instead for anyone looking to ride to stick to the paths surrounding the park, or the numerous other spots around town, out of respect for the park and for the memory of Kale Porteous who the park was named after.

The Town would also like to thank the public for their understanding, and continue that at this time. 

It is currently unknown when the issue will be resolved.