Sun Peaks’ community playground and plaza will soon be ready for gathering this fall.
Construction has begun on Sun Peaks Plaza and playground outside Sun Peaks Centre, with grading of the site completed in the last week of June. The project’s next steps include construction for drainage, brickwork, cement and finally, installing playground equipment. The space should be open to the public in early September and will provide expanded infrastructure for community events and no-cost recreation for families in Sun Peaks.
The project is funded through provincial grants, organizational and private donations and municipal funding totalling approximately $1.65 million.
A grant from the province for $898,241 makes up a significant portion of the project’s funding, and Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP) provided $350,000 for playground equipment. Donations from individuals represent $198,876 and Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) contributed $190,000 from the municipal parks reserve funds. Sun Peaks Rotary donated $10,000 and Adaptive Sports Sun Peaks also gave the project $2,000.
The space’s features include an accessible playground with rubber surfacing and wood fibre chips throughout the grounds, a slide, swing, carousel agility course and more.
“The Park Plaza project will give another performance space,” said Shane Bourke, chief administrative officer for SPMRM. “We saw on the [Canada Day long weekend] the village stroll got a bit cramped. We’ll have a little bit bigger space to offer some small performances and also be a central gathering space. The playground will provide another free activity for community members and visitors.”
Arlene Schieven, president of TSP, said the non-profit organization used reserve funds to help the municipality complete the project. The savings were accumulated during COVID-19, which resulted in scaled-back marketing.
“It’s given us the ability to help some of these projects because there wasn’t enough money to complete them, and we’re really able to take them to the finish line,” Schieven told SPIN.
The park may eventually have lighting installed for the shorter winter days, according to Bourke, and SPMRM will install conduits that can be used for lighting if future funding is available.
The tennis and pickleball courts at the site have been moved to parking lot five and should be open by the middle of July.
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