If a determined group of parents has its way, families will soon have another safe play option for their tykes at Smoke Bluffs Park.
Members of the Hospital Hill Play Park Initiative are working to have a new playground built adjacent to the kid zone children’s climbing area near the Hospital Hill entrance to the busy hiking and climbing park.
“We are the only neighbourhood that doesn’t have a play park,” said Suzie Beliveau, one of the approximately 60 members of the Hospital Hill group.
The idea started with two or three residents of the Hospital Hill community in 2012, according to Beliveau. At the time, the project idea went before council and a plan for the park was included in the Squamish Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
But the district’s budget has never accommodated the expense.
Beliveau would like to see the playground built for the neighbourhood.
“I have kids and I was thinking maybe I should get a swing set in my backyard, and then I just thought I would rather put the money somewhere that would be more durable,” Beliveau said.
Beliveau went to her neighbours, who said they also support the idea of trying to get the park built.
The early concept for the playground is that it will fit in with the natural environment and include rock and water features, plus a swing set and a slide that juts out from a hill, according to Beliveau,
As a not-for-profit collection of volunteers, the group can build the playground for less than the district would pay, she said. Beliveau predicts they will need about $25,000. So far the group has collected more than $6,000.
The project is a partnership between the Hospital Hill group, the Squamish Trail Society and the Smoke Bluffs Committee.
“We also feel that not just our neighbourhood will benefit, but also the families that come for climbing or hiking – all the park users that have families,” she said.
Beliveau said she thinks Smoke Bluffs is an ideal place for a playground. “One parent could go with the children to the play park and the other parents could keep climbing,” she said.
Brian Moorhead of the Smoke Bluffs Park Advisory Committee said a children’s playground is needed and will be well used.
“The park is doing extremely well, almost too well,” he said. Over one weekend this February, Moorhead said, more than 500 people went through the park. A decade ago a February weekend would have seen perhaps 100 people go through the park, he said.
The advisory committee supports the concept of the children’s playground and donated close to $5,000 to the cause, Moorhead said. The district has had its sights set on a playground for the park for some time, according to a district spokesperson, but has had other financial priorities. Council will hear from the playground delegation on March 3.
To help with the park, contact Suzie Beliveau at 604-815-8412.
