Mooney’s Bay $2M play area ‘so cool’

Kids who helped build project first to try it out

Ten-year-old Robert Parent found his calling while building the colossal playground at Mooney’s Bay park.

“The main part I did was weld the chicken legs with a welding stick,” Robert said Friday, pointing at a big steel bird pecking at wood chips on the ground.

“It inspired me to weld when I get older.”

The city held an opening with kids and parents who helped to build the playground over the summer as part of a television show, which will debut July 1, 2017, on TV Ontario. The city and Sinking Ship Entertainment split the $2-million cost of the Canada-themed playground. It’s a Canada 150 project and the official opening of the playground will also happen Canada Day.

“Just to see it now is so cool,” Robert said in between testing the equipment.

Qamer Al-Talabi, 12, helped to build the Manitoba section of the playground by installing toy horses.

“I learned it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be,” Qamer said. “You think you would just put a bunch of things together and it’s just finished, but really it’s a lot more work than that.”

Kids will flock to the giant playground because it’s so big and it will teach them about Canada, Qamer said.

“I just wanted to help out the community,” she said. “I thought it was fun.”

Ryan Blundell, nine, worked on a boat on the east coast section of the playground.

“It actually rocks. I don’t know if anyone knows that yet, so I have to show them that,” Ryan said of the boat.

“I feel proud to have this really big playground around me for all these people to play at.”

Aidan Derouchie, 12, was primarily assigned to the Yukon and Northwest Territories, but his favourite part is the Ontario district.

“When I see the finished product I just look around and see how much work I did on it,”Aidan said. “I did a lot of the play structures and helped out with them. It was just amazing.

More than 700 volunteers helped build the playground.

The project was mired in controversy when residents complained there was little consultation and the city’s integrity commission discovered there was unreported lobbying. There was also the headscratcher of a sheriff’s building injecting some Americana on a Canadian playground.

Mayor Jim Watson trudged up the stairs of one structure for a group photograph before roaming around the site collecting feedback from kids. He saw a lot of Canada reflected in the playground.

“This is probably going to be one of the great destination spots for families and kids alike,” Watson said.

Watson scoffed at people who questioned using land for a children’s attraction.

“There were two sorts of groups that were opposed to it. There were those who were opposed because there wasn’t as much consultation as there should have been, and there were some opposed ( because) they just didn’t want one inch of greenspace taken up by play structures,” Watson said. jwilling@postmedia.com twitter.com/JonathanWilling