Torched playground rises from the ashes
Posted Oct 11, 2013 02:05:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The new Kiwanis Playground in the Ferry Terminal Park on the Dartmouth waterfront officially opened Friday. The new play boat replaces the 13-year-old one which was torched by vandals in February.
The new playground is almost twice the size of the old one, costing $206,000.
“This is an exciting day,” said Mayor Mike Savage. “It’s a really good investment. People and families are going to be coming here. It’s a gathering place on the waterfront in downtown Dartmouth where there’s a lot of stuff happening.”
The community was devastated when news broke the old wooden playground ship was purposely set ablaze. The Kiwanis Club of Dartmouth put the original playground in for $100,000 and it was due for a $40,000 refit this summer.
“This creates a destination in downtown Dartmouth,” said Tim Rissesco, past president of Kiwanis and executive director of Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission. “For Kiwanis, our priority is always children, and when we saw how the community reacted to when the last playground burnt, we wanted to make sure it was replaced and even better. We were the donors of the first play boat, and we felt we had an obligation to replace it.”
The new playground is the first of its kind in North America, with the only other model being in Australia. Kim St. Pierre is the sales representative for A.B.C. Recreation, who introduced the structure to HRM’s design department. He says this structure won’t burn easily.
“The quality of the manufacturer and specification is second to none,” explained St. Pierre. “You’ve got stainless steel, anodized aluminium, heavy duty poly, and high quality rubber surfacing. It’d have to be a very aggressive act to burn this down.”
The playground features a rubber safety surface, is wheelchair accessible, and has a spinner.
