No more fees at Waterloo splash pad

Children play at a splash pad to try to stay cool in Kitchener, Ont. on Tuesday, June 19, 2012.

The crusade of a group of Waterloo mothers to eliminate entrance fees at a Waterloo splash pad has finally paid off.

Monday night, Waterloo city councillors unanimously voted to waive the fees at the Lions Lagoon splash pad in Waterloo Park starting this summer.

It was music to the ears of Daisy Arseneault, who has been trying to get the splash pad opened up for two years.

“It’s a great place for everyone to meet up, for the kids to meet up, to play,” she said.

Arseneault has three young children and lives near Waterloo Park, but because of the fees to get into Lions Lagoon, would instead go out of their way to use free facilities in Kitchener.

“I thought ‘Why are we driving to Kitchener when we could just be walking to our neighbourhood splash pad?’” she said.

The City of Waterloo took in approximately $30,000 each year from entrance fees. That shortfall will be covered by a city reserve fun.

Lindsay Laur was another advocate for removing the fees. She told CTV her daughter will likely be old enough to play in the splash pad this summer.

“She’s almost walking, so we want to make sure that she’s got somewhere safe and cool to play and it’s not going to cost us a lot of money,” she said.

Splash for Free, the advocacy group pushing for the elimination of fees, plans to continue fundraising efforts and will use that money to support upgrades for the splash pad.

Lions Lagoon is currently the only splash pad in Waterloo. The city plans to install new splash pads over the coming years, and replace Lions Lagoon with a new facility in about a decade.