The City of Moose Jaw’s Playground Renewal Program has wrapped up its assessment, redesign, and public survey process for the playground at Athabasca Street West and 15th Avenue Northwest — department head Derek Blais said they’re ready to go and hope to be done by the end of July.
“This is the third playground to be replaced as part of that program. Essentially, the goal is to replace our aging playgrounds with new, modern, inclusive structures, and also having a greater focus on the overall site and what amenities are provided,” Blais explained to MooseJawToday.com.
“In 2021, we replaced the Clark Gillies Park playground, and then 2022 was the Moose Square Park playground.”
The City of Moose Jaw has more than 50 public playgrounds — Parks and Rec is responsible for 30 of those sites. The others are managed variously by Wakamow Valley Authority and the local school divisions, and several others are leased by third-party groups.
One of the objectives of the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) is that, as far as possible, the City shall attempt to ensure that no residential property is located more than 400 meters from the closest public open space.
OCP assessments show that current public open space distribution is sufficient, so the focus is on upgrading existing sites rather than adding new ones.
The Athabasca playground survey, which closed on March 22, received 233 responses from residents. There was a fairly even split in the age ranges, from toddlers to older children to pre-teens, as far as who will be using the playground, and 60 per cent of respondents expressed a preference for one particular design option.
“So, with that, we want to ensure that we have a playground that’s designed for all ages,” Blais said. “And we’re happy to say that we’re moving forward with the community’s preference on the plan.”
The most prominent structure requests were for a swing set and monkey bars. The top three site amenity requests were accessible and inclusive pathways, a picnic table and benches, and a basketball net. The City will also replace fencing as needed, add new waste receptacles, and generally freshen up the site.
“We’re hoping to have the project completed by the end of July,” Blais added. “We’re excited to move forward, and I just really want to thank the public once again for their feedback.”
