Whitney Pier parents grow impatient for replacement playground

Robbie Hussey, 14, misses the playground in Whitney Pier, N.S., where he and his friends have been hanging out of the past decade.

"We used to take walks and come here and play. There was a slide, four swings, the teeter-totter and monkey bars. It was fun," Hussey said. "It was surprising to not see it there."

The playground was demolished last year by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in order to construct a new pumping station on the site.

'We've lost enough out of the Pier'

There are plans to build a replacement playground, but people in the neighbourhood are growing impatient waiting for it and taking to social media to express their concern.

​Anita Hussey, Robbie's mother, brought her children to the site to hold a brief protest over its loss. Now that winter is over, she wants to be able to send her three children to a playground nearby.

"We've lost enough out of the Pier and we're a very strong community and we deserve to have things in the Pier, just like everybody else," said Anita Hussey.

Concerned parents

The playground is also important for kids for physical activity, she said.

"My kids have their little gadgets too, but I love to be able to take them outdoors and be able to do something that gives their muscles some work."

Hussey said other parents she's spoken with are also concerned.

"Our children deserve to have somewhere to play," she said. "We want our playground back." 

Cindy Holloway has two children and lives close to the playground site.

"The playground has been there for a long time and now nothing. There are so many young children in Whitney Pier and everything is being taken away from our youth," said Holloway. "We want to keep these things around to keep our children active and close by for families who do not have a vehicle."

New playground coming

Jim MacLeod, the CBRM councillor for the area, said he's been getting calls about the playground.

"The pumping station became obsolete and last spring we decided that it had to be removed in order to supply the water quality that's necessary," MacLeod said. "The playground had to be removed and you couldn't operate it when construction was going on."

MacLeod said he went door to door to let people know the playground would be coming back. He said the new playground will be much better than the old one and could be built as early as the end of June.

"When the playground was being removed, a lot of it was broken and obsolete so there will be a new playground established. There will be all new material built," MacLeod said.

'They just have to be patient'

The new playground will be built on fenced-in land next to the original playground, MacLeod said. The site of the old playground will be turned into a green space with park benches. 

The cost of the new playground has been covered in the CBRM budget.

Allan Clarke, the manager of parks and buildings for the municipality, said he understands why parents are frustrated.

"It is going to be replaced. They just have to be patient," said Clarke. "The weather's not co-operating. The ground is still soft, so we need it firmed up so we can get some trucks in there and do our thing."