INNISFAIL – During the late afternoon of Aug. 2 Tim Ainscough was weary from being up for 14 hours to help battle the downtown fire at the historic Globe Coliseum but the veteran local firefighter still had enough energy to show off his service group’s accomplishment at Cannon Park.
Ainscough, the treasurer and playground chair for the Innisfail Kinsmen, was the point man to ensure a new accessible playground was installed expertly and quickly for the kids at Cannon Park.
“We’ve built probably about 75 to 80 per cent of the playgrounds in Innisfail, whether it's Westpark or up in Napoleon Lake at Centennial Park. We’ve done a lot of them,” said Ainscough.
On Aug. 2 he said all that was left to complete at Cannon Park was to put in the engineered wood chips and swings. As for the famed cannon feature that makes the park extra special, it was in safe hands with the Town of Innisfail.
“The town has it and they are going to rebuild it, so that will be done,” said Ainscough.
He said the Kinsmen has been partnering with the Town of Innisfail over the last year to give the community its first two accessible playgrounds; the first being an all-inclusive children's facility at Napoleon Park Sports Fields at a cost of $275,000, and the second at Cannon Park, which has a budget of $139,729.99.
“The town wants to do some more and were going to partner; so if we go in and build them they're not paying someone to build them,” said Ainscough. “They're just paying for the playground and we're donating the volunteers. The town saves some money and we keep our legacy going and building a majority of the playgrounds.”
He added the Kinsmen will be building another accessible playground this fall at Mac’s/Kinsmen Park. That project has a $89,706.78 price tag for the town but it could have been higher without its partnership with the Kinsmen.
The accessible playground project at Cannon Park was a prolonged process.
It included a public survey on design in late March and early April, as well as displays at the Spring Trade Show on March 31 and April 1.
The public chose a design from Park N Play Design for Cannon Park and a second one from PlayQuest Recreation for Mac’s/Kinsmen Park. Both contracts were approved by Innisfail town council on May 8.
Ainscough is hoping his service group’s application for a provincial Community Facility Enhancement Program grant will be approved to knock down the Cannon Park cost to the town.
For now though Ainscough and new Kinsmen president Donnie Hill are just excited to have the facility ready for the kids.
“It’s great to get infrastructure out into the community. It's something the residents of Innisfail can use,” said Ainscough. “We're transitioning to have more inclusive playgrounds. The playgrounds that were built 10 years ago weren't as inclusive.
“These ones are inclusive not only for those people with physical disabilities but also for visual and we have all those things incorporated in these playgrounds,” he said, adding the design selection process gave the public a say into what was wanted and needed for their children. “I think it is a good process.”
