New inclusive playground coming for Charlottetown

The city of Charlottetown will soon be home to the one of the largest accessible playgrounds in P.E.I.

Playground is a gift from Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities

Natalia Goodwin · CBC News · Posted: Apr 10, 2018 5:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: April 10, 2018

The new 9,000 square foot playground will go in Victoria park next to the existing equipment. (Randy McAndrew/CBC )

The city of Charlottetown will soon be home to the one of the largest accessible playgrounds in P.E.I.

The park is a gift from Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities as part of the charity's inclusive playground project initiative. Charlottetown is one of the first of four communities to receive support this year, and the plan is to deliver a playground in every province and territory over the next five years.

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"It's going to be really a tremendous opportunity to create a facility in our city that's going to be able to serve all citizens," Mayor Clifford Lee said.

Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee says he is honoured Charlottetown was chosen. (Jessica Doria-Brown/CBC)

"It's about inclusively, and I'm certainly honoured that Charlottetown has been chosen as one of the few cities in the country to receive this facility."

The playground will go up in Victoria Park, next to the existing playground equipment on the waterfront.

"Given that Victoria Park is Charlottetown's most visited park and the playground will sit next to an accessible pool with accessible amenities close to transit, it is a great start to build on Jumpstart's goal of making a space where children of all abilities can enjoy sport and play together," said Scott Fraser, president of Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities.

The playground is still in the design phase but will be 9,000 square feet, and Jumpstart estimates it to cost close to $1 million. The city does not have to contribute any money, but had to give the land. A video made by Jumpstart shows the tentative plan from many angles.

This rendering shows the plan for the playground, although design work is still being done. (submitted by Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities )

"As we are currently in the planning stage, we'll be in a better position to determine final value closer to project completion. We are incredibly proud to work with the City to bring the largest universally accessible playground to Charlottetown," Fraser said.

That money is coming from Jumpstart's Play Finds A Way movement, a five-year, $50 million fundraising commitment from Canadian Tire Corporation that focuses funding efforts toward accessible playgrounds, infrastructure and programming.

The groundbreaking for Charlottetown is planned for this June, with an opening date expected in August.