The Town of Creston is considering how to cover a $75,000 funding shortfall to repair the Centennial Park splash park surface, which has been flagged as a safety concern ahead of the summer season.
According to a report from Brad Ziefflie, director of infrastructure, the rubberized splash park surface has exceeded its lifespan and can no longer be effectively patched, leaving exposed concrete and creating slipping and tripping hazards.
“There’s big patches and where concrete’s showing through, it’s all not adhered to the actual concrete underneath. And we have patched it, but there’s so much of it that’s not adhered anymore. You just can’t really patch it anymore,” said Ziefflie at the towns Apr. 28 council meeting.
The town had already approved $95,000 for the project in its 2026 capital budget, with $20,000 coming from reserves and $75,000 expected through grants. However, grant funding has not materialized, leaving the project underfunded.
Ziefflie said staff have outlined several options, including reallocating money from another project, using reserves or delaying the work.
“One of the options will be to take some money from the CBT grant that was previously given for the playground up at the Creston Education Center” said Ziefflie.
That option would allow the splash park repairs to proceed this year, but Ziefflie acknowledged it would reduce the scope of the playground project. Chief administrative officer Mike Moore pitched another idea that could avoid that tradeoff.
“This would be a project that does fit under your Growing Communities Fund. We could utilize that and make some adjustments accordingly,” said Moore, noting the town currently has $1.5 million available through that fund.
“Now I know we’re trying to keep that for housing type initiatives, but we’re getting into a safety thing. We have double-checked with the criteria and it does fit,” added Moore.
Ziefflie warned in his report that delaying the project could potentially force the closure of the splash park during peak use in the summer.
“Further delay of this project increases the risk of injury to park users, and Council may need to consider closure of the Splash Park during the operating season if surface conditions continue to deteriorate or if usage accelerates wear,” he wrote.
The park is heavily used by families in the summer, and the report notes the town has received multiple complaints about its condition. Infrastructure staff said the surface, installed in 2012 with an expected lifespan of about eight years, has now exceeded that by several years.
Councillors discussed potentially seeking outside contributions, including a possible funding request to the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
In the end, council voted in favour of moving ahead with the $75,000 budget amendment to complete the project this year, while also directing staff to write a funding request letter to the RDCK.
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