Testing the waters

The SunnyLand water park, a $50 million project to be splashed along 460 acres of rolling countryside just off the Queensway, is set for a June 2009 opening. It’s also projected to attract over $750 million in fresh tourism dollars to the area over the next decade, but enthusiasm for the project amongst local community leaders appears mixed. “I hope (there’s a benefit),” said Cumberland Ward Coun. Rob Jellett of the park, to be constructed by Quebec company Le Groupe Village Vacances Valcartier. The group conducted a two-year feasibility study on the park before announcing its construction early this month. “People are going to go there from all over eastern Ontario, and they’ll come up 417 and through Vars... So who knows how big this is going to become,” he continued. “Anything that comes to the east end is a good thing, and we should all be supportive.”

Studies commissioned by the Council of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell also estimated more than 500 full-time and seasonal jobs will be created from the park, to be partially funded with $2 million of provincial money. That data, however, did not take into account the planned opening of another water park, “Allottawata” near Barrhaven, set for a spring 2009 opening.

Some analysts have said the region cannot economically sustain two such projects.

And though the heads of all three major east-end business entities – Anita MacDonald at the Heart of Orléans Business Improvement Area, Tom MacWilliam of the Eastern Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, and Peter Stewart of the Orléans Chamber of Commerce – said the park hasn’t yet touched their radar screens, some east-end businesses say bring on the splash pool. “I can say that it would be a good spin-off for the whole area, not just when it’s built but also in pre-construction,” says Kimberly Wilson, sales director of the Chimo Hotel. She says any park that’s expected to draw over 12,000 visitors per day – as the company predicts – has to be good for business. “It’s going to be a destination for people to come to,” she says, adding the area’s service industry will most likely see most of the benefits. “So they’ll have to stay somewhere, and they might often turn their trip into a weekend.”

The park’s planned season will run from June 1 until Labour Day. Le Groupe Village Vacances Valcartier are operators of the Village Vacances Valcartier, a Quebec water park known as one of the largest in Canada.