People living in the northwest community of Citadel are frustrated a beloved playground was demolished with no plans to build a replacement. “It means everything to the children and the neighbours. This is where we meet. This is where families meet. You know, this is where kids become lifelong friends,” said resident Glenn Francey. According to the city, the wood structure from 1998 had come to the end of its lifecycle and there are two other playgrounds 500 metres away. “We have young kids and having a safe play place that’s close by it is one of the reasons that we actually came to this neighborhood in the first place 10 years ago. So having it gone obviously is a detriment,” said Leah Fletcher, another Citadel resident. The city did a round of public consultation but didn’t give a playground upgrade as an option. People had to manually enter it under ‘other’ and write in the comment section. “There was approximately 148 responses, and 112 of them were passionate pleas to save the park,” said Francey. “They ended up deciding to put a ping pong table, as well as a cornhole toss. As well as another funnel game, I believe is what it was called. All of which, you know, people would have to bring their own equipment,” said Fletcher. The outcry reached Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness who agreed with a playground replacement and said this case speaks to a larger city-wide issue. “I’m working on a notice of motion where councilors will actually be able to inject and direct the organization to properly address lifecycle maintenance for what the true life expectancy of these parks actually are, rather than assuming that they are a 100 year park asset when we actually know that they are a 25 year asset,” she said. “It’s got to change that mindset to truly acknowledge the reality of the problem that is before us.” For now the project is on hold until another round of public consultation is complete. The city budgets $1.2 million to replace 10 to 12 playgrounds per year.
