Turner Valley councillors couldn’t resist the pleas of two youngsters calling for support to improve the playground at their school.
Town council agreed to contribute $10,000 from its recreational capital budget toward Turner Valley School’s $800,000 Legacy Park project following a presentation by Maya Perez Robinson and Raya Mowatt at council’s Jan. 4 meeting.
The historical playground is an initiative of the school’s parent and teacher association that proposes 16,000 square feet of recreation space featuring a concrete boulevard, trees, picnic tables, sand box and playground with wheelchair accessible ramps and various structures - adding to the existing equipment.
“It’s important to me and our classmates because we are getting older and have new interests,” Perez Robinson told council last week. “The games we like to play are getting too easy for us.”
Perez Robinson explained that Legacy Park will benefit students who might be injured or unable to access the equipment.
“If we have a new playground they can use it to get up,” she said, referring to the proposed wheelchair accessible components. “Kids can come to the school, have fun, try something new and have challenges with the games we like to play.”
Perez Robinson told council the school has raised $20,000 for the project so far, which will also include a history wall outlining local, provincial and Canadian history over the past century and a “wall of fame” listing names of donors.
The numerous phases of Legacy Park will be completed in small steps as funding is available.
Council discussed the potential to use the remaining $22,000 from the $35,000 it budgeted in 2015 to transport playground equipment from Hell’s Half Acre Campground, where the spray park is now located, and build a pathway for John Street park.
“It didn’t cost as much as we had initially thought, particularly the paving of the pathway,” said Barry Williamson, Turner Valley chief administrative officer. “In our minds our project was finished. Whether there is more to do that will be determined by any recommendations from the parks and rec committee.”
Mayor Kelly Tuck suggested contributing the remaining $22,000 towards other Turner Valley parks in need of upgrades or additions.
“If we take $10,000 and give it to the school there will still be $12,000 left,” she said. “Edgar (Street Park) also could use a little TLC and touch up. Maybe take the other $12,000 and add something to Edgar park.”
While Coun. Dona Fluter supports the Town contributing to Legacy Park, she didn’t agree with allocating money earmarked for John Street park to the school project.
“I absolutely support what Turner Valley School is doing, but not at the expense of our parks that have sorely been left behind for so many years already,” she said. “That money was allocate to that park to finish it off or get it where there are enough pieces of equipment. We have an obligation to give some TLC to our parks.”
Fluter told council the Turner Valley School park is geared for older children while the town’s other parks are suited for younger children.
Turner Valley’s parks include Country Meadows park, Edgar Street park, Bailey Ridge park on Southwood Street and the John Street park. Each, with the exception of John Street park following last year’s upgrades, consist of a slide and climbing structure, said Williamson.
Coun. John Waring, a member of the Town’s parks, pathway and recreation committee, said the group is in the process of determining whether each of the town’s parks are suitable in their current locations, taking into consideration the population of young children in the area, and will then decide on the needs of each park.
“We wouldn’t recommend spending a lot of money on improving a small park if there are no people in the immediate area who would use it,” he said.
Waring added the completion of John Street park is high on the committee’s list of priorities.
“With the amount of equipment that wasn’t able to be reused (from the campground), it would be a good gesture to put smaller equipment in there,” he said.
“We’re looking at maybe $10,000 or so. We will look at other small parks in the town and look at their condition and uses.”
