Coventry Hills launches campaign to replace 14 playgrounds

Calgary has some pretty cool playgrounds. One is dinosaur-themed. Another features helicopters. A third is designed to replicate an airport.

Now, a northeast community is reaching out to the people who live around it to learn what kind of playgrounds it wants.

The Northern Hills Community Association is undertaking an ambitious plan to replace 14 playgrounds in its neighbourhood, and wants to hear from residents about what they want the new playgrounds to look like, said community association spokesperson Moraig McCabe on the Calgary Eyeopener Monday.

Rather than just building "tot lots," which appeal to younger children and their families, the organization hopes to hear from all age demographics about their vision for what the area's next generation of playgrounds could include, said McCabe.

Crowdsourcing ideas from the community

On the community association website, they emphasize they want to hear from residents adjacent to Coventry Hills as much as from residents within it, from areas like Panorama Hills, Country Hills, Harvest Hills and Country Hills Village.

"We have a very diverse range of ages and abilities in our community," said McCabe. "Instead of just having 14 of these little tot lots ... we're going to get residents involved, and ask them what do they want to see [in our playgrounds]?"

McCabe also emphasized that this is the start of a plan designed to replace all 14 playgrounds, but that it will take a few years, maybe decades, to replace them all.

"We're not getting rid of 14 all in one go," she said. "It is a very big project."

They were looking at replacing four and decided to take a broader look at what the community needed.

"Even fundraising for just one playground is really difficult," McCabe said. "So we decided, you know what? We're going to look at all 14, and we're going to do a long-term community plan."

According to the organization's website, the first playground to be replaced will be at 152 Coventry Circle, which was chosen to be replaced 'like-for-like' by the city parks department for around $75,000.

Since then, the organizing committee has been working on devising a plan for the next playground, at 178 Harvest Glen Way.

Program 'first of its kind'

According to McCabe, the program is "the first of its kind in Calgary terms of scale, being completely led from a grassroots, resident perspective."

What McCabe and her organization foresee is creating a variety of playgrounds that serve a number of constituencies.

"So far, we've engaged some of the (community's) teens, and they're very keen on seeing some basketball courts," she said. "Some of the 8 to 12 [year-old respondents] have come up with a pool and a theme park. But even the wildest ideas are great, because we can use elements of those and make it [even] more community-friendly.

Multi-generational space

"We're looking at this as a 20-year plan, so we're going to start fundraising and just keep going until we've replaced them all," she said. "[In] some areas, we'll make them into multi-generational spaces. [In] other areas, we'll have to make into more of a park space with reading nooks and picnic tables. So there will be a range of different costs for the different playgrounds. But if the community wants it badly enough, we'll find a way."

Community consultation ahead

Next up: a big community consultation on Oct. 28, said McCabe. She hopes to see a large turnout from the Northern Hills community.

"They can sign up through Event Brite," she said. "It's free, and they get a free lunch. They can come and we'll have some exciting ideas from all around the world … we actually have images from all around the world of different kinds of playgrounds and playground equipment."

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener

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