SUNDRE — People with reduced mobility and parents with strollers will have a much easier time not only accessing but also enjoying the Royal Purple Park’s playground once upgrades are complete.
“We’ve now got two areas where we’re doing the groundwork right now. One of the areas will have equipment for toddlers, and the other area will be for handicap playground equipment,” said Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer.
“So, it’s kind of an area for everybody,” said Nelson.
Located along 8th Ave. NE, the park’s existing playground equipment caters primarily to children ages 5-12, but the upgrades will open it up to more people, she said.
Additionally, a new three-metre wide asphalt path that was recently completed has paved the way for easier accessibility to reach the playground from the street, she said.
“It’s going to be fantastic," she said.
Chris Albert, director of corporate services, said grant funding is going to cover the bulk of the project’s roughly $150,000 price tag.
The municipality had an existing application in place to use federal gas tax funds, which needed to be spent on playground equipment, he said.
“That was what the application was for," he said.
There is also another grant the municipality had previously successfully applied for through the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, which is making available a material made from recycled tires that will be used to create the base for the playground and is supposed to have a longer lifespan than other products used, he said.
“Just to keep costs down, we are having our staff do some of the labour,” he said, adding the project is coming in under budget.
A large component of the project was primarily to make the playground more accessible, he said.
“I believe the pathways themselves and the equipment and the material that we’re using, is to make it more accessible to wheelchairs and strollers, rather than having to trudge across the grass,” he said.
Barring further weather-related delays in what has been a rainy summer, Albert said the project should be completed this fall.
