Members of the Water Ridge Playground Committee cut the ribbon with representatives from Humboldt City Hall and Co-op Community Spaces during the grand opening of Humboldt's Water Ridge Park playground. (Becky Zimmer/northeastNOW Staff)

By Becky Zimmer

Getting out to play

Humboldt celebrates as ribbon cut on new playground facility

Sep 11, 2021 | 2:00 PM

It was a day worthy of celebration with the official grand opening of the new additions to Humboldt’s Water Ridge park.

Hundreds gathered on Friday, including lots of children, to cut the ribbon on the park and enjoy the new amenities to the park on the northeast side of the city. A new play structure, swing set, and pickleball courts were recently added to the already existing park, which has been home to the JCI Spray Park and walking trails for many years. Bouncy castles, burgers, and a performance by Humboldt’s own 40oz Philosophy also made the day even more special.

President of the Water Ridge Park Committee, Breanna Landry, told northeastNOW it was a great day to see everyone out enjoying the new additions.

A new pickleball court at Humboldt’s Water Ridge Park was one of the recent additions to the park. (Becky Zimmer/northeastNOW Staff)

“It’s taken a lot of work but it’s totally worth it to see this many people enjoying it.”

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Fundraising efforts by the committee, including online auctions, raised a $200,000 portion of the grand total with grants also playing a key role in the park’s additional developments.

Committee work and discussion about the park started at the beginning of 2021 with city council officially supporting the development during their council meeting at the end of April. The city also approved a contribution up to $75,000 to match the committee’s fundraising efforts.

Many local businesses contributed grants to the project. Landry thanked many sponsors during the ribbon-cutting event, including the Co-op Community Spaces, Nutrien, Michel Industries, Kal-Tire, Masterfeed, No-Frills, One Stop Playground, and the city.

The work done by the planning committee is a testament to the power of community, Mayor Michael Behiel told northeastNOW. They consistently have a long list of projects they want to undertake, he said, so “when community groups come forth like this and volunteer to do it, it really A) shows that community spirit but B) takes a load off the city’s list that we don’t have to be spearheading it.”

Michael Ulriksen, director of Community and Leisure Services for the city, played a huge role in connecting the committee with the city on the project, and was thanked by both Landry and Behiel for his work on the project.

While they are happy with the new improvements to the space, Landry did talk about further additions to the park like expansions to the water park, however those additions are far into the future. Behiel also mentioned making the space more usable in the winter with a possible skating area coming in a few months.

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim