Construction to start on new Galt Gardens play space
A new play area is coming to downtown. Construction of the new Galt Gardens Inclusive and Accessible Play Space will begin within the next few weeks, and has a completion date set for early fall.
This new amenity, which will be located immediately adjacent to the Rotary Centennial Fountain in the southeast corner of the park, will consist of inclusive and accessible play equipment, rubber surfacing, plaza space and park furniture.
Urban Revitalization Manager for the City of Lethbridge, Crystal Scheit spoke to media Tuesday and said the city was successful in obtaining grants through the Canadian Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) for $375,000 and they were also able to leverage some existing city funding to help fund this project.
“It’s (the play area) going to help reactivate the space, bringing youth and it’ll be able to be utilized with all the different events that are happening within Galt Gardens and in the downtown,” said Scheit.
She said it will help accentuate the area alongside the Rotary Square fountain, and they are hoping it will be a key feature for families to be able to use in the downtown.
“We wanted to keep it close to the fountain as we see a lot of youth and families already utilizing this side of the park, and hopefully it’ll tie in nicely with that, and it’s close to the parking on all sides and the amenities here within the downtown,” said Scheit.
With the location of the play space comes concern regarding social issues taking place in the area, but Scheit said the city is working on different things to try and address those problems.
“That being said, we do have security in the park from 10 to 10 and we hope that helps mitigate some of those problems. We have seen families coming and utilize the fountain here in Rotary square which is great, and with the revitalization of 3rd Avenue, it has brought a lot more positive activity into the downtown,” said Scheit.
The total cost of the project is $662,000 with $375,000 being covered by the CCRF, $287,000 from a previously-approved budget in Public Realm Enhancements for $152,000, plus $125,000 approved by Lethbridge City Council in the 2022-2031 Capital Improvement Program and $10,000 from the KalTire Replay Fund.