City Hall is moving forward with its plans to upgrade the playground and splash pad at Sullivan Park.
The current equipment is outdated, which is why the park’s playground will undergo a major overhaul.
During Monday’s meeting of the city’s Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee, the project was briefly discussed.
There are currently six swings in the park, which will be replaced with four brand new swings: two special swings and two standard swings.
Because the total number of swings is going down, Manager of Community Services, Dave Baldoni was asked if the existing swing sets could be repurposed in any way.
“They’re not going to remain,” he answered committee members. “They’ve surpassed their life expectancy by many years. They don’t necessarily meet our park standard at the moment.”
Councillor Mike De Divitiis, who who also sits on the committee, voiced his agreement with the decision to discard the old swings.
“My concern is when you mix old and and new — it starts looking like a junkyard,” he said. “It doesn’t fit in. It looks cheap. I rather see new swings brought in if we need them, but definitely not the old ones. They’re outdated and there are safety issues on them.”
Recently the city held a public information session, where four curious residents — including Councillor Nella Dekker — gave their feedback on the proposed changes to the park.
City Hall staff was asked if additional features could be added to the playground, but this is not possible due to the egress areas around the new swing set.
When it comes to the colours of the playground equipment, Baldoni said there were only positive comments at the public information session.
“Councillor Dekker was all in favour of the colours,” he shared. “They match the colours of the Miami Dolphins so she was all in favour.”
City council will still need to sign off on the project before the new playground and splash pad can be put in the ground.
