The fortuitous band of one of the city’s smallest service clubs has just been given a queen-sized gift of cash by a local MLA, all in the name of improving the community.
The St. Albert Kinettes, with its contingent of eight members, received a provincial grant for $100,000 to replace the aging playground at the Woodlands Water Play Park site. The cheque, delivered by MLA Ken Allred, came from the Community Facility Enhancement Program.
Karen Mehok, the president of the club most famously known for organizing the annual hamper program every Christmas, is thrilled with the financial boost and what it will mean to the children and the Kinettes themselves.
“It was just really old,” she said. “It’s pretty much where all the younger kids of St. Albert are.”
The idea was borne out of necessity because the facility still featured its original equipment from 1994 and it had just reached the end of its service life.
“The city approached us about redoing the playground. They did the Woodlands spray park; we’re doing the playground. [It] needs to be ripped out.”
She added that her group is taking on the task because the city needed an organization that could apply for provincial funding through the Community Facility Enhancement Program Community Initiatives Program.
This is going to be a milestone achievement for the group because it essentially launches them into greater prominence.
“We don’t have our name much out there so for us to have this playground named at least by us or for us, it’s going to be huge,” she said.
Now comes the task of park design and determining how to proceed. The old playground equipment is scheduled to be removed after the long weekend in September as the spray park is closed down for the year. The new playground should be up and running by the end of the fall.
“[The city is] giving us ideas to help us because we’ve never done this before.”
She did mention it would likely feature a base of recycled tires instead of the old sand and pebble pit. The city will also provide $150,000 for the refurbishment. That money was approved during the 2010 capital budget process that took place at the end of last year.
For more information, call Mehok at 780-418-3930 or visit www.stalbertkinettes.ca.
