A new natural playground has been opened at Grauer Park in Tsawwassen.
On Saturday morning, the City of Delta and the Tsawwassen Boundary Bay Lions Club held a grand-opening celebration to mark the completion of the park.
The natural playground makes use of an underused area in the park and cost $126,135, which was shared between Delta and the Lions Club.
“Over the years, the Tsawwassen Boundary Bay Lions Club have been a great community sponsor of significant projects within Tsawwassen, including the Winskill Wellness Park completed in 2007 and the Centennial Beach Accessible Playground in 2010,” said Mayor George Harvie. “Today, we celebrate the partnership between the City of Delta and the Tsawwassen Boundary Bay Lions Club for the development of this natural playground as a cost-sharing project.”
The Lions Club provided in-kind labour and equipment to strip the bark off the climbing trees, cut notches in the climbing posts for foot and hand holds, and the installation of the climbing posts and gravel pathway.
The Lions Club also secured donations for the stone benches and plinth, concrete for the climbing posts bases and gravel for the pathway.
The natural playground, constructed by Cedar Crest Lands (BC) Ltd., includes a double zipline that can accommodate kids of all ages and sizes, two climbing trees, which were salvaged from other Delta locations and reused at this playground, a swing for both toddlers and children, five climbing posts, notched with feet and hand holds, a log stairway leading to a “king of the castle” post at the top and seating boulders, donated by the Century Group.
“I always say that we live in a great community. This project is another wonderful example of the community partners coming together to support our children,” added Harvie. “You are all to be congratulated for your hard work, dedication and vision. Many, many children will benefit from this playground project and you should all be very proud of your accomplishments.”
Project manager and Lions Club vice-president Allan Calderwood said support from the City of Delta and the community has been fantastic.
“Todd Stewardson from the City of Delta was especially helpful,” he said. “I utilized a number of my supplies who contributed to the project. The kids had a great time exploring the new equipment. The zipline was full all day.”
