Newly renovated waterslides open at the Prince Albert Kinsmen Water Park

After a year of fundraising and national exposure, the waterslides at Kinsmen Park are finally open to the general public.

The slides were shut down last year because they needed upgrades and were not safe.

• Scratchy waterslides need fixing, Prince Albert folks aim for contest money

Prince Albert was nominated for the the Kraft Celebration Tour, a contestthat awards communities money to help them be more active. The city received $25,000 towards the water slidesfor making it into the top 10 finalists, but did not receive the $100,000 grand prize.

However, the waterslides were still able to be refurbished as fundraising events,businesses and otherorganizations contributed towards the $275,000 project.

The city is offering half price admission to the Kinsmen Water Park this weekend to celebrate the slides' grand opening.

The public was originally supposed to be able to use the slides starting at 1 p.m. on Monday, but staff at the Kinsmen Water Park said the slides were a bit scratchy and needed to be smoothed down first. The water pumps were being looked at as well.

Staff expect the public will be able to start using the slides sometime Monday evening.