Playgrounds in three Powell River parks will be undergoing significant upgrades.
Willingdon Beach will have new children and preschoolers’ playground equipment installed and new equipment will be going into Grief Point and DA Evans parks as well.
City of Powell River director of parks, recreation and culture Ray Boogaards said at Willingdon Beach, an archaeological consultant and member of Tla’amin Nation were onsite, overseeing the removal of the old playground equipment in the archaeologically sensitive area.
“It’s an extremely important process and I’m glad we didn’t try speeding up the process,” said Boogaards. “That’s a very sensitive area, that and Grief Point Park. Anything along the coast is extremely sensitive for artifacts and we wanted to make sure it was taken into account.
“It’s a lot slower than we envisioned but it’s worth it. The importance of working with the Tla’amin Nation on this is so imperative.”
Boogaards said the large playground will be for children between the ages of five and 12 years old. He said it is the most accessible playground that the city can actually build in the park. It will not accommodate every disability but it is important to ensure there is an opportunity for as many children as possible to play, according to Boogaards.
The bigger playground will have an engineered fibre floor. While rubber surfaces are available, and pea gravel, engineered fibre has a lot of give to it. Boogaards said it is believed that this surface will be the best for fall protection.
“It also packs down nicely, and a wheelchair can get across that quite easily,” he said.
He added that the playground will feature a mini-zipline with a chair and a child in a wheelchair could be lifted into the zipline chair and enjoy the ride.
Boogaards said the new playground will be significantly larger than the old playground, with a footprint about twice as large as the removed facility.
On the other side of the washroom will be a preschool playground, for children two-and-a-half years to five years old.
“It’s in close proximity to the other playground so parents can watch kids on both playgrounds by just sitting at a picnic table and observing them,” said Boogaards. “It will also create social opportunities for the parents. They have the opportunity to get out of the house, sit down at the park and talk to others.”
The large park cost about $170,000 and was funded by the Powell River Community Forest. The preschool playground was also funded by the community forest, as well as the Rotary Club of Powell River.
“I want to thank them both for contributions towards this,” said Boogaards. “I know the Rotary club did a lot of fundraising to make this happen.”
Boogaards said at Willingdon Beach, there has also been a permanent installation of the volleyball courts. This past summer, there were temporary installations made, but now, proper posting has been sunk into the ground so there are no longer big concrete slabs holding the nets in place.
Boogaards said with Grief Point Park, because it is in an archaeological area, efforts will be made to make sure artifacts are not impacted. It is going to be another preschool park.
The airplane that has been a fixture at Grief Point Park has been removed and will be going back in at some point. Efforts will be made to refurbish the structure but Boogaards said it is not in great shape.
“What I’m going to be doing is seeing if I can find another airplane that’s not made out of wood,” he added. “It might be cheaper to buy a new one that’s going to last for years than fixing the wooden one every year.”
DA Evans Park is not in an archaeologically sensitive area and will be a youth park.
Funding for Grief Point and DA Evans parks came from the community forest.
