It’s been years at the fundraising stage and a few months with a muddy, empty space, but finally Blacklock Elementary students will have a shiny, new playground to play on.
Volunteer parents and the contractor worked all weekend to install the new playground.
Last October the playground was taken down because it was deemed unsafe and too old a structure for children to use.
“Because of the strike we had a late start to the year, and then we have had some pretty rainy weather and Christmas break so the kids haven’t been outside that much to miss it,” said principal Susanna Eppich.
“We also did picnics in the gym and other things.”
The school PAC has been fundraising since around 2011 to pay for a new playground, knowing the structure was reaching the end of its days and knowing how expensive they are. A new playground costs around $100,000.
The fine arts K to Grade 5 school has 244 students.
Several years ago, the provincial government decided it would no longer fund replacing aging playground equipment, and it would be up to the individual parent advisory councils to pay for it.
But playgrounds, even smaller ones, are very expensive.
“This one cost more than $98,000,” she said.
“The PAC had some gaming money, the City provided some funds and we even had cheques for $1,000 from community members.
The community has been very generous,” she said.
The playground has spinners, slides and climbing equipment.
Eppich said the school district got them a good price on wood chips for the base.
A date for an opening ceremony hasn’t been set yet.