Stittsville children weigh in on park plan
Stittsville boy, 12, pens letter to councillor lamenting lack of sandbox in new design
When the City of Ottawa put together its “concept plan” for Amberway Park in Stittsville, there was a graphic of a new play structure, a legend and scale, lots of arrows and those perfect circular trees only architects can grow.
But it lacked an essential element: enough child’s play.
Anthony Fiorenza could see that straightaway, from experience. He’s 12, and pretty much grew up in the park off Denham Way, playing his heart out on the wobbly bridge, the slide, the swings, the monkey bars, which are all being changed.
So he took out a piece of lined paper, the kind for three-ring binders, and began writing in pencil: “Dear Counselor Shad Qadri.”
Qadri, who represents Stittsville, must be wondering about emerging kid-power in his ward, fresh off a campaign from an 11-year-old to have a girls’ trophy case installed at Goulbourn Recreation Complex. (Hockey player Danika Glenn, in fact, is in Anthony’s class at St. Stephen School.)
“My Mom showed me what it might look like and I can tell it’s not a park I would play at,” Anthony wrote, detailing his concerns for two pages and leaving his email address. Sister Alessa, 10, also chimed in, coming up with her own point-form plan for improvements.
The new structure looks too small and not challenging enough for older kids, he wrote, and the wobbly bridge should be retained. As for younger kids, “THERE IS NO SAND!” he block hollered. “Sand is like the best part of going to the park.”
(Instead of sand, the city is proposing packed wood chips, which provide a surface better suited to wheelchairs and other mobility devices.)
On a quick visit to the park on Monday, Anthony expanded his critique: The current swingseats are so low, the feet bang on the ground; there aren’t enough swings in the new plan for older kids; why can’t there be a combined soccer/football field in the rear grassy area, which looks about 50 yards deep?
“If you would like,” his letter concluded, “I could do some of the fundraising around the neighbourhood to help pay.”
His mother Cindy, 43, who runs a home daycare, and fellow care provider Kathryn Racz, 60, both lament the loss of the sandbox, climbing bars and the proposed installation of an “aerial spinner” — which looks to come with a kick-hazard.
“I don’t think, if they leave the (plan) the way it is, it will get used much,” said Racz, who has run a home daycare for 30 years. On warm summer days, she said as much as 80 per cent of the day is spent at the park, usually in the sandbox.
Dad Domenic Fiorenza, an advertising representative at Postmedia, said he’s pleased the kids have taken an interest in a planning issue that affects their neighbourhood.
“They took the initiative,” he said. “It’s cool to see this generation of kids put down the iPad or the PlayStation and do something about civic pride.”
Though Thursday is the deadline for public feedback, it looks as though the family is getting somewhere.
Qadri said there is some flexibility in the plan, as long as there are no big cost issues. The blueprint also has to respect the city’s mandated requirement to provide access for those with disabilities. The current play structure, at least 30 years old, has a wooden frame and looks the worse for wear.
“The flexibility is there,” he said of the $104,000 plan, already $17,000 over budget. “If they want to say, ‘Do this, don’t do that,’ I will take that back to the parks people and discuss it with them as to the possibilities.”
He’s particularly pleased to see feedback from young people in the ward. “There is nothing that is more important to me than to work with the community, votes or no votes. It doesn’t matter. You should hear my speech to Grade 5s when I go into the classroom. If their swing is broken, I want them to call me.”
He cautioned that the new structures, which are metal and plastic, should not be judged from a photo. He’s had good feedback from those installed in other parts of the ward. Adding a sandbox is a possibility, he added.
Anthony, meanwhile, is just polishing up his final draft for Qadri, a missive that took him close to three hours.
“It doesn’t look fun,” he said of the plan. “There’s no pole to go down, no wobbly bridge. Adults don’t really have a kids’ perspective, I guess.”
Out of the mouths of babes, best said.