A $50,000 donation from Co-Op’s Community Spaces program will see the first all-inclusive park space get built in the City of Lloydminster.
Set to be built in the Aurora neighbourhood, the approximately 2,840 square metre play structure will include a splash pad and shelter, with the funding going towards to the purchase inclusive and accessible playground features to help ensure children of all ages and abilities can access the area with ease.
Land Sales Coordinator with the City of Lloydminster, Wendy Wagner, says it’s a day long in the making, and should be ready to welcome kids and families from across the city by the spring of next year.
“We wanted to raise the bar and make something that was for everybody in the community to be able to participate in community spaces, and education and programming in our spaces outside,” she says.
“We are doing a site walk, and then the equipment is ordered, so we will start breaking ground in the middle or end of August, and all the services in by the end of September. It will be up and running in Spring 2024 at 100 per cent.”
West Family Connections Executive Director Sherri Husch-Foote says they’re thrilled to be able to steward the grant funding into what she believes is something foundational for not only the development of children, but the development of inclusive environments in the community.
“It’s critical for families in our community; having a park that is on the Saskatchewan side that provides accessibility from a transportation perspective is really important,” she says.
“It was really key for us in the development of our early years family resource centre programming to have a Saskatchewan park that is not only accessible from a play aspect, but a transportation and feasibility for families to get to,”