The spray pad in the long-awaited universally designed playpark at Queens Place opens Tuesday.

The water feature includes sprinklers, a fountain, filler buckets and jet spray units and is the first phase of the complete design

Community members raised over $450,000 with the goal of building a universal play park that includes ramped decks, braille and audio elements as well as a spray pad to make it inclusive to everyone regardless of age or ability.

The park is the realization of a dream shared by several groups throughout Queens.

Local resident Debbie Wamboldt first approached the Region of Queens in 2015 about supporting the construction of a universally designed park. Since then, she was the driving force behind the fundraising effort. For their part, the Region provided the land next to the skate park at Queens Place and will own, operate and maintain the park for residents. Autism Nova Scotia holds the money in trust and releases it as invoices are submitted by the municipality.

The name Etli Milita’mk (pronounced ed-a-lee milly-dumk) is a Mi’kmaq phrase which translates to “We are playing here” and was selected for the playpark after consultation with Acadia First Nation representatives.

Construction of the park has been delayed by supply and staff shortages brought on by the pandemic but if all goes as it should, the park will be fully opened and operational by the end of September.

In the meantime, the spray pad will be open from 9:00am to 8:00pm every day until September.

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