Owen Heights Park (Photo from Google Maps)
The City of Owen Sound is looking at approving an updated design for Owen Heights and Comm-er-ette Parks.
The Community Services Committee approved the design elements for the parks for city council approval during a meeting last week.
This comes after the city approved a five-year capital plan to renew, replace and upgrade city assets between 2026 and 2030.
During a committee meeting last month, it was mentioned the capital cost associated with replacing playgrounds has significantly increased, which resulted in the budget for each city playground to be increased to over $147,000.
Manager of Parks and Open Spaces Eckhard Pastrik says in a report, “The city has 21 playgrounds. 71 per cent of the playgrounds are beyond their lifecycle.”
Pastrik says city staff have worked with Park-N-Play Design to build a standard neighbourhood playground, which can offer a fun environment for children between the ages of 18 months to 12 years old.
After consulting with the community, their feedback was used to include accessible play components, an access path, a concrete gathering area, a defined edge to the playground, drainage pipe, and seating area in the design.
Council will consider approving the design elements for the two parks when it meets.
