Children will be splashing and having fun at Shipwreck Shores this summer.

That’s the name picked by a committee of Oak Harbor officials and residents in a naming contest for the new splash park, which will begin spraying water at kids when Windjammer Park opens June 29.

City Administrator Blaine Oborn told the council at a workshop Wednesday that the city received 37 valid entries to the contest and the name “Shipwreck Shores” was the committee’s favorite.

It’s appropriate, he said, since the splash park is located next to the beach and has a shipwreck theme.

The winner was actually an as-yet unidentified fourth-grade class, he said. The committee slightly modified the submitted name.

The runners-up included Cool Off Cove, Deception Splash, Puget Paradise and Eagle’s Lagoon.

“Soak Harbor was one somebody threw out but never was an entry,” Oborn said.

The contest was open to children from 5 to 18 years old. The name was supposed to represent Oak Harbor heritage, city life or the environment. Each entry was accompanied by an essay.

One of the reasons the committee ranked the winning entry high was because of the quality of the essay, Oborn said. The essay, which was read at the workshop, was about Oak Harbor’s historic and current connection to the water.

“Oak Harbor beaches were our playground growing up,” the essay says. “We would play and run and look for sea shells. It was the best place to be.”

City leaders take the contest very seriously. Oborn won’t release the name of the winner, or winners, at this point. The winner is supposed to sign a legal disclosures and then the council has to take final action at a meeting, at which time the winner will be recognized.

The winner will again be recognized at the June 29 grand opening and will receive a trophy.