Winnipeg, MB - Officials from the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba today celebrated the reopening of the St. James Legion Memorial Playground at the corner of Silver Avenue and Sackville Street.
“This playground is another example of our commitment to work in collaboration with the City of Winnipeg to support strong community and recreation services that encourage young people to lead better, healthier lives,” said the Honourable Drew Caldwell, Minister for Municipal Government. “Supporting community recreation projects will continue to improve the quality of life for Manitoba families.”
“This playground is a wonderful addition to the recreation facilities available in the St. James area,” said Scott Gillingham, Councillor for St. James-Brooklands-Weston. “The brand new features of the park, like the zipline, are a great way to encourage kids and families to hit the park and get active.”
Features of the new park include a new climbing structure for five to twelve-year-olds made of engineered wood fibre safety surfacing, a zipline play features, swing sets including an accessible “oodle swing,” new sand play area, new benches picnic tables and bike racks, an aluminum “paper airplane” entry feature, and new landscaping.
The St. James Legion Memorial Playground is a Building Communities Initiatives (BCI) II project that received $271,000 in support from the Manitoba government and the City of Winnipeg.
The BCI partnership is a multi-year cost-shared capital initiative developed jointly by the Manitoba government and the City of Winnipeg. BCI II will provide $23.8 million to support community revitalization through improvements to 121 local infrastructure initiatives in targeted older neighbourhoods and contribute to the vitality, safety and health of communities throughout the city.
Phase One of BCI II provided $10 million between 2010 and 2014. All 38 of these approved projects under the first phase have been completed.
Phase Two of BCI II will provide an additional $10 million between 2013 and 2015. An additional 51 projects have been approved under Phase Two, with 27 having been completed so far.
Phase Three of BCI II will provide an additional $3.8 million. 60 per cent of the funding for this phase is provided by the City of Winnipeg and 40 per cent is contributed by the Province of Manitoba. 32 have been approved under Phase Three, with 12 having been completed thus far.
BCI II projects include improving athletic fields, playgrounds, skate parks, spray and splash pads, basketball and tennis courts, lighting, seating, pathways in parks and upgrades of community centres.