The children of both Moorefield and Drayton are getting an early Christmas present with the recent issue of a purchase for new playground equipment.
Through a unique partnership between the Drayton Kinsmen Club, the Moorefield Optimist and Opti-Mrs. Clubs, and the Township of Mapleton, just over $60,000 in new playground structures have been earmarked for two of Mapleton’s busiest play areas: the Moorefield Community Park and the Drayton Kinsmen Park.
The equipment is being purchased through Recreation Playsystems of St. Clements, which previously provided the play structure installed in Drayton’s ABC Park in 2010.
“This type of community partnership is an absolute lottery win when opportunities for funding are so limited these days,” said public works director Larry Lynch. “Both the Kinsmen and the Optimist Clubs have given so much to the betterment of their communities; Mapleton is thrilled to be able to upgrade our parks equipment by working alongside such dedicated volunteers.”
The township’s public works department will be taking care of the playground base preparation, drainage installation and preparation of the play area footprint in advance of the structure installation. This work is intended to take place over the winter months and the play structure installation should be completed by Victoria Day weekend in 2013.
Longtime Drayton Kinsmen member Wayne Mick has been a driving force in the play equipment project.
“The opportunity to put quality, barrier-free accessible equipment into the township’s park system is at the heart of the Kinsmen’s mandate of ‘serving the community’s greatest needs,’” said Mick.
“Working with the Optimists, the township and a knowledgeable supplier has been a labour of love for all of us and in the end our success will be measured by the smiles of our local youth,”
The Drayton Kinsmen have made a township-wide commitment for funding park equipment upgrades while the Moorefield Optimists and Opti-Mrs. are making a financial commitment to upgrade the equipment in Moorefield Park.
The township is covering half the costs of the $61,000 equipment upgrade as well as providing the labour and funds to prepare the park with engineered chips for the base. Township staff will also be removing old equipment and disposing of it appropriately.
The new equipment order will be processed through the 2012 budget, Lynch explained.
Staff are currently working with the Kinsmen Club to identify equipment upgrade requirements in both Glen Allan and Rothsay with the hope of including this in the 2013 budget.
Likewise the Moorefield Optimists are working with the township on a proposed washroom replacement in the Moorefield Park. All of this will be considered in the 2013 budget, said Lynch.
