It has been over 10 years in the making, but work is underway on a new community park in the Mission.

Mayor Tom Dyas, council members, city staff, guests and teachers, and students from Anne McClymont Elementary attended a ground-breaking ceremony on Apr. 24 at 687 DeHart Road, the park含羞草研究社檚 location.

含羞草研究社淭his new park will provide opportunities, and connection and help build stronger communities,含羞草研究社� Days said. 含羞草研究社淚t will be a welcoming community space for neighbours, families, sports enthusiasts, and for your family dogs.含羞草研究社�

Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas speaks at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new community park on DeHart Road in the Mission.

含羞草研究社� Gary Barnes (@GaryBarnes97912)

The park will include a dog park, trail network, multi-use field, sports courts, a pump track, a splash park, a playground, a parkour area, and the current community garden, which will be relocated on-site.

含羞草研究社淲hat we have hopefully brought to the community is a park that looks to the future, but also for the community to find something to come and recreate,含羞草研究社� said Derek Edstrom, divisional director of partnerships and investments.

Dyas noted the new park is an important project that has been on the books for over a decade.

While the city already owned some of the parklands, other lands had to be purchased from homeowners.

含羞草研究社淲e were waiting for them to be comfortable with their plans moving forward. Once they were comfortable they opened up the ability to look at purchasing the land.含羞草研究社�

Cadre Simpson is a parks and landscape planner with the city and the park architect. She said there have been different iterations of the plan over the years.

含羞草研究社淚n 2010 there was an extensive community engagement to see what the community wanted. When I came onto the project two years ago, I had that as an outline and some of those elements are the same.含羞草研究社�

Simpson added the design will preserve and enhance natural open spaces and existing trees and add a dryland meadow.

The $8.6 million project will take approximately a year to complete.

Funding came from the Parks Development Cost Charges Program established in 2019.

READ MORE: Dachshund dumped in a ditch near Kelowna, found by mountain biker

READ MORE: Rolling road closures in Rutland for Vaisakhi Parade