
Updated children's playground at Albert McGowan Park, completed in late November, 2024/via City of Kamloops
The City of Kamloops is hitting a cold-weather pause on a two-phase project at one of the more heavily used parks in the city, after being able to get the first — but less demanding — portion of the overhaul done in just a couple of months.
The Parks department has completed work on upgrades to the children’s playground area at Albert McGowan Park in Upper Sahali.
Shut down on September 23rd by crews to begin the work, the redesigned play area has now reopened.
The playground is designed to accommodate activities for toddlers and their parents, as well as children aged 5 to 12.
Some of the changes the City has made to it include better accessibility for kids who may have mobility issues.
“A merry-go-round that you can enter at grade,” said the City’s Manager of Parks, Jeff Putnam, when talking about some of the changes they’ve made. “So if you’re in a wheelchair, or a person who doesn’t need a wheelchair, you can access it and enjoy it together.”
Updates to the site also include a new rubber-based surface across the entire play zone, which is meant to help with mobility and better drainage.
The City is also making things more comfortable for kids waiting in the “GO!” line, which Putnam says came at the request of parents and children who frequent the playground.
“Something we’ve never done before,” he said. “[It’s] a very large umbrella structure. It’s a purpose built shade structure that goes over top of the slide area.”
A final cost for the playground upgrades was not immediately available.
Second phase to begin in spring
The end of playground revitalization is step one of a two-phase project the City will continue next year at Albert McGowan Park.
Next up is the complete overhaul of the popular spray park.

Existing water park at Albert McGowan Park in Kamloops/via City of Kamloops
“We’re hopeful to get that completed mid year 2025,” said Putnam. “We’re still working through Interior Health. There’s still some approvals and permits required for that. Once we get that, we’ll have a construction plan for late winter, early spring.”
This portion of the overall project is much more involved than the updates to the playground, as crews will need to tear through the existing infrastructure to install a new recirculating system.
Construction is tentatively set to begin in March, 2025.
The City’s Let’s Talk page indicates construction is scheduled to run until September of next year.
This would eliminate one of the five public outdoor water parks available in Kamloops, and the closest one available for families in areas such as Aberdeen, Pineview and Upper Sahali.
The other public water parks in Kamloops are either downtown or in north Kamloops.
Following installation of the new recirculation system, crews will resurface the site and add new water features and other elements — with a nod to what was completed at Riverside Park in the spring of 2023.
“Very similar types of new components and slides, with much more interactive and accessible features [compared to the existing water park at Albert McGowan],” said Putnam. ” But it will be a slightly smaller version.”
While the cost for the new additions to the playground at Albert McGowan isn’t clear, work to replace the spray park has been budgeted at close to $1.8 million.
Operational costs for the spray park are set at $250,000 per year.
- A rendering of the new water park at Albert McGowan Park in Kamloops. (Photo via Landscape Structures)
- Children playing at official opening of spray park at Riverside Park in downtown Kamloops, May 23, 2023/via City of Kamloops
- Children playing at official opening of spray park at Riverside Park in downtown Kamloops, May 23, 2023/via City of Kamloops
- Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson cuts ribbon to open water park at Riverside Park, May 23, 2023/via City of Kamloops