Numerous volunteers assisted Town of Sundre officials with erecting new equipment for two playgrounds in town over the last few weeks.
Old playground equipment that was deemed unsafe at Greenwood Campground and on 5th Street (otherwise known as the Bergen Road) was removed and replaced with new equipment.
“It's a community install which means that we have a certified installer supervisor come and help us put all the pieces together and stand it up, and the rest of the work is done by staff and volunteers helping us out,” said Jacci Hager, the town's manager of community services.
The cost to replace both playgrounds was approximately $80,000, which is coming from the town's parks reserve.
During a recent safety inspection, officials from the Canadian Playground Safety Institute deemed both playgrounds unsafe.
The project began in late August and is expected for completion this week.
Town officials have not been short of volunteers, with help coming from several River Valley School classes and a number of businesses.
Hager said she is grateful for all of the volunteers and donations, and that officials decided to involve the community in the project for a number of reasons.
“It's community ownership. It gives them a chance to be involved. It gives them a sense of pride and ownership,” she said, adding it is also cost efficient for the town, saving roughly $5,000 on each park.
Town officials are planning on hosting another community build next year to replace the playgrounds located at 321 1 Street NE and 9 Aspen Crescent.
“Playgrounds are important for the community because it allows an element of play as a spontaneous activity where there's no structure, there's no program, there's no leader,” she said.
“And spontaneous unstructured play is really important for child development and creativity allows their minds to come up with their own ideas.”
