By Bryan Eneas

Prince Albert soon to be home to accessible playground

Sep 6, 2018 | 1:05 PM

The Gateway to the North will soon be home to a playground for everyone.

Volunteers from the Canadian Tire family of companies descended on the empty lot between the Alfred Jenkins Fieldhouse and the Victoria Hospital Thursday to start construction of the accessible Jumpstart playground.

“One of the things we believe in is giving kids access to play and sport,” Jumpstart President Scott Fraser said. “Play gives the kids that opportunity to socialize, it gives them the opportunity to make new friends.”

Fraser said the newly-constructed playground will cater to people with a wide spectrum of abilities. He said there are components of the design which make the park inclusive to individuals with visual or auditory impairments as well as physical or cognitive disabilities.

“Various pieces of the equipment are targeted at various disability spectrums, it meets all the needs,” Fraser said.

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Fraser said his vision for the playground is for it to become a destination for families to visit to experience in Prince Albert. He said he hopes to see families traveling great distances to use the play equipment.

Jumpstart Playground is part of a Canadian Tire fundraising commitment, which focused funding efforts towards accessible playgrounds, infrastructure and programming in order to provide access to play to children across the country.

Local philanthropist and Canadian Tire dealer Malcolm Jenkins also had a hand in the project; the Malcolm J Jenkins Family Foundation Inc. and Jumpstart jointly funded the playground. In total, five accessible playgrounds are being constructed across Canada.

Mayor Greg Dionne was on site Thursday to watch construction get underway. He praised the volunteers who turned out in force to help with the build.

“I call them champions; most people call them volunteers, I call them champions, because they’re out here today helping us,” Dionne said. “These people here, they all want to be part of this.”

He noted part of the vision for the project was to place it between the Alfred Jenkins Fieldhouse and the grounds for a potential new hospital in Prince Albert to try and get as much use out of the structure as possible.

Prince Albert’s Jumpstart playground will be open to the public in early October.

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas