Spring start eyed for school's playground
Extra time before construction provides chance to look for more grants, SAC chairman says
A spokesperson for the school advisory council at Yarmouth Elementary School says they hope to start construction of a playground for the new school in the spring.
“We’re still fundraising,” says Richard Gosling, chairman of the school’s SAC. “We’re still waiting to hear back on a few grants and then we’ll proceed from there.”
Yarmouth Elementary School opened to students last September, replacing Yarmouth Central School across the street. However, the playground was not part of the school construction project.
“(Playgrounds) are not normally part of the build,” Gosling says. “They’re not budgeted for it.”
Initially, the intention had been to begin work on the playground for the new school last fall, he says, but those involved in the project decided to hold off.
“We had hoped to have something before the snow came,” Gosling says, “but after some discussions amongst the committee and Cobequid Consulting – the folks who are doing the project – instead of coming down and just doing a couple of things and then coming back in the spring to finish it off, hopefully to save some money (the decision was made to) start doing some work in the spring.”
Waiting a few extra months to means more time to look for grants, he says.
There also would have been logistical challenges with starting last fall, he says, then putting things on hold for the winter
The students seem to be making do, Gosling says, although he acknowledges some would be disappointed over the lack of playground equipment at their school.
The idea for the new playground is to include what he described as a “pirate-type ship. Basically, it’s just a bow and a stern, something for climbing, plus a pirate pole ... a few things like that for climbing and what not.”
Also part of the plan, he says, is to bring swings from the former Central School and incorporate them into the playground project.
There’s more to developing a playground than many people perhaps realize, he says.
“The equipment is expensive,” he says. “The landscaping is expensive, as well.”