Hub Staff

There were big smiles from members of the Saugeen Shores Splash Pad Committee today as they met at Bicyclette Rouge in downtown Port Elgin to receive a $1,000 donation from The Wismer House.

The 12 person committee was formed in September 2014 and through various fundraising events and donations have now raised approximately $130,000 towards a proposed 500 square meter splash pad, with 20 different water features and a $400,000 budget.

“We're hoping for a financial commitment from council in the spring time, which is waiting on a report from staff,” said Saugeen Shores Splash Pad committee member and co-owner of Bicylette Rouge, Amy Shute, who added that council had expressed support for the project. “I still think we hope for a completion in July 2017.”

The Splash Pad Committee attended a Committee of the Whole meeting last December and left disappointed after council deferred a motion for financial commitment until the new year.

“We left the last council meeting quite discouraged and may have given the wrong impression that we were going to call it quits but we're not,” Shute expressed. “We're going to keep going.”

Wismer House owner, Jeff Carver said that he decided to donate the money as he really believed in the Splash Pad project and was excited about it.

“I think it will be a huge advantage for us as a community and I think it's going to draw people to the community ... the beauty of drawing more people to the community is that everyone benefits from it, parents, kids, families ... we're drawing attention to Port Elgin and Saugeen Shores and the ultimate goal and the ultimate result of all of this is going to be more business for all of us and a better spot to live,” said Carver.

He continued, saying that the proposed location is at North Shore Park, north of the Port Elgin Harbour. “The location, the waterfront is in desperate need and everyone in the community agrees that it's in desperate need of improvement, so here's a community group that's organized themselves to help contribute to that waterfront and make it better. There's really no down side to this.”

The next big fundraising event will be the Lake Huron Children's Festival, the committee's second annual, taking place July 9. They hope to raise between $15,000 and $20,000. The location is still to be determined but the festival will see 2015 JUNO Award-nominated kids singing duo, Splash’N Boots as one of the attractions.