Dartmouth splash pad funding cut from HRM budget but project ‘definitely not dead’

A planned splash pad in Dartmouth is still in the works but the aquatic play area won’t be built this summer.

It was a budget-cut casualty after city hall revised its estimates because of the cash crunch brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, said a spokesperson for the community group formed to advocate for the project.

Rick Mayuk, of Friends of the Dartmouth Splash Pad and Park, said recently the group is “very optimistic” the pad will be constructed next year in time for use during the hot-weather months.

He said the local team of volunteers is committed to securing funds for the project.

It’s contacting corporations and other businesses about supporting its cause.

Proposed for the Dartmouth Common, near the skateboard park, the splash pad would sit on parkland between Wyse Road and Windmill Road. Other park amenities exist at that site.

Halifax council approved the project, pending funding, four months ago. According to the community group’s website, the initial goal was for this season to be the splash pad’s first.

A municipal staff report says city hall intended to provide $500,000 of the estimated $650,000 total. Community fundraising was to contribute $150,000.

The staff report, presented to council in February prior to the municipality’s financial pressures prompted by the coronavirus, said there are no splash pads in Dartmouth or surrounding areas.

Mayuk, a married father of one, said Halifax Regional Municipality has approved an overall aquatic strategy, which included a splash pads component. “But they haven’t been funding the . . . strategy,” he told HalifaxToday.ca Wednesday.

Regional council eventually agreed to earmark money for splash pads, said Mayuk.

Then, “with the finish line in sight,” his group’s project was jettisoned when the municipality recast its budget.

“The project’s definitely not dead,” Mayuk said. “And as a community group, although the wind was taken out of our sails, we’re still active.”

Mayuk acknowledged the municipality has financial priorities it must manage, as do potential private-sector sponsors concerned about their own coronavirus-related money matters.

An appeal the community group made to the mayor and councillors last month was rejected. The group urged council to “consider maintaining this program’s funding in the (revamped) 2020-21 budget,” a letter to city hall shows.

A regional splash pad “is one of those lower (relatively speaking) investment infrastructure projects that has wide-reach potential which impacts many individual citizens and many districts,” Mayuk said in May, in an email to council members.

“As a volunteer, one of the things that very much frustrates you sometimes is the process of working with regional council and staff, and navigating” a community project such as this, he said in an interview.

An artist’s rendering of the proposed splash pad shows an oval-shaped pad with various water works, new park benches and picnic tables placed under shade structures.

Due to the financial hit Halifax Regional Municipality has taken from the coronavirus, all departments had to revise budget plans presented earlier this year.

City hall staff said last month the municipality’s revenue loss in 2020-21 is expected to be $44 million.

A spokesperson with the municipality said Thursday the splash pad is to be reconsidered as part of the 2021-22 capital budget. Halifax council will make the final decision on its fate.

Asked if the community group, established in 2017, is concerned the next council might not back the splash pad project, Mayuk said he remains upbeat it’ll come to fruition. A municipal election is set for October.

“As long as (the municipality) funds their portion – their $500,000 in the next budget – then we’re very confident,” Mayuk said.

His group has raised $45,000 toward its $150,000 objective, he said.

Coun. Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre) has said the splash pad’s location across from the Zatzman Sportsplex is a good one. The Dartmouth Common site was given the green light after the municipality did a feasibility study.

“From a broader community perspective, the Common location has a lot going for it,” Austin told constituents in a Feb. 12 council update. “There is great potential for the Sportsplex and others to incorporate the proposed splash pad into their regular programming.”

Friends of the Dartmouth Splash Pad and Park would like to develop “a community gathering place” for parents and children. “We want to create a clean, safe community hub that is inclusive and accessible to everyone,” its website says.

Mayuk couldn’t say how long it would take to build the splash pad, if approved after 2021-22 budget talks at city hall.

He said his group hopes funding will be confirmed, municipal staff will put the project out to tender and HRM will sign up a contractor to install the pad.

Michael Lightstone is a freelance reporter living in Dartmouth