City council might have to shuffle its deck on park priorities as it ponders a half-million dollar gift to help create an inclusive play area.
The Canadian Tire Jumpstart program, which helps provide funding to create inclusive play for children of all abilities, is offering the city up to $500,000 to help create an all-inclusive multi-sport court at an existing city park. It would provide space for accessible basketball, pickleball, sitting volleyball, tennnis, volleyball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis.
Jumpstart would provide a variety of elements, ranging from accessible tables and nets to fencing and LED lighting.
Staff estimates the city's portion of the project at somewhere between $800,000 to $1.3 million.
A staff report heading to city council's special meeting Tuesday night cautions that if the city were to proceed with the project this year it would have to find funding from elsewhere in the existing budget to start planning and design work. Even proceeding in 2023 will mean other projects would get bumped down the priority list.
Staff have identified three possible locations for the barrier-free, all-accessible multi-sport court: Hespeler Optimist Park, Lions Can-Amera Park and Churchill Park.
It estimates it would cost $140,000 to do the consultation and preliminary work ahead of any construction.
"This is not currently in the Capital Budget Forecast for 2023 and, if it were to proceed in 2023, would need to be prioritized over other capital projects," states the report.
It adds that proceeding with consultation and design work on the Jumpstart project will push back the Angewood Park playground replacement project and Riverside Skateboard Park project until Spring 2023.
Staff is recommending to council that it undertake public engagement and consultation with the Accessibility Advisory Committee to finalize a location and complete detailed design; approve a new capital project with a budget of $140,000 to begin that preliminary work, "include a capital construction project to build a Jumpstart accessible sports amenity, in partnership with Canadian Tire, as part of the 2023 Capital budget."
They also want to do the due diligence and sign an agreement with Jumpstart.
