Local Rotarians are one step closer to building a water park in Willow Point this spring, after receiving a $5,000 grant from Tire Stewardship BC, to be used towards rubber surfaces in the park.
Conceptual drawings for the park were submitted to the city in November, and contractor Rectec Industries is due to submit detailed drawings for approval this month. Once approval from the city and the Vancouver Island Health Authority are in place, construction will begin, with the hope of having the park ready for the summer.
The project is a joint effort between the Daybreak and Noon Hour Rotary Clubs, and the Campbell River Fire Fighter’s Association.
The partnership is still seeking about $50,000 in sponsorship towards the project, said Noon Hour Rotary Club president Patricia Gagnon.
“We are looking for corporate sponsorship,” Gagnon said. “We’ve applied for a number of little pots of money, but we’re looking for around $50,000.”
Letters have been drafted and will be going out to the business community soon, she said.
A fundraising campaign by Telus will bring in about $100,000, Gagnon said. Last March, Telus launched a fundraising campaign to support the Campbell River Rotary Waterpark. Telus committed to donate $100 towards the water park for every new television customer it signed up.
The Tire Stewardship BC grant will go towards providing crumb rubber, which is made of recycled tires, for surfaces in the park. The material is water permeable and soft, and is used in water parks, playgrounds, running tracks, synthetic turf fields and more.
The associaton’s current round of grants will benefit 29 projects and keep more than half a million pounds of tires out of landfills.
“This amounts to nearly 38,000 tires that were kept out of landfills and instead were recycled for use in playgrounds, water parks and indoor and outdoor athletic facilities,” says Executive Director Mike Hennessy. “In total, the Community Grant Program recycled more than 680,000 pounds of rubber tires in 2011.”