Back in 2015, the Willow Park playground didn’t meet the needs of the local community, a community full of young families.
In a letter to the Rotary Club of Squamish, local resident Kaija Belfry Munroe said the park was an incredibly important resource for the community and yet it was underutilized and didn’t meet the community’s needs.
It was basically a large, often muddy, field with a small play structure suitable for children 1-3 years and two swings.
To be blunt, it was ugly and offered nothing to entice school-aged children to come and play or families to find a community-gathering space.
Munroe and others in the neighbourhood set up a community group to call for a makeover of the site with new equipment that would add to the playground by providing places to play for older kids.
Over the course of roughly a year, Belfry Munroe and others worked with the District of Squamish to find support for this initiative.
She even had her students at Quest University put together a film project by interviewing parents in Willow Park about the need for a renovated playground.
It was shown to council in December 2015.
The students showed videos of interviews with parents and some children speaking about the park. There were speakers who complained it didn’t have enough play structures. There were others who complained of dog excrement, and there were those who said the park lacked places for parents to sit.
A majority said the space was being underutilized. District agreed to come up with $40,000, which it later increased to $46,000.
In mid-2016, volunteers were able to install the new equipment. Aimed at older children, the play structure includes a spinner, a rope bridge, a large slide, spots to climb and monkey bars.
FraserWood Industries provided material for a border around the play space, worth roughly $4,000.
Further needs had also been identified, including landscaping, additional swings and especially seating and tables for parents and caregivers.
The community then reached out to the Rotary Club of Squamish which contributed to the project by funding the purchase and installation of a new swing set which doubled the number of swings.
In late 2019, the Rotary Club still had funds allocated to the project and found Karen Blair, a local resident, who stepped up to move the project forward.
Working with the District parks department, she identified benches and tables which would address the requirement for more seating.
With funding from the Rotary Club the new furniture, two benches and two picnic tables, were purchased and installed in early April.
The park is now all ready to use and once we are out of the current health emergency, it will enable many families to enjoy the space they helped create.
Brian Finley is a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Squamish.
