Council approves funding for Swift Current playground upgrades
A project to resurface the playground in one of Swift Current’s largest parks will increase safety and improve accessibility for children.
Council approved the tender from Shercom Industries Inc. to resurface the playground in Riverside Park at a cost of $111,441.33 (PST included, GST excluded).
Jim Jones, the City’s general manager of community services, provided details about the project during the regular council meeting, March 9. The existing playground surface will be replaced with a rubber surface.
“Currently the existing surface consists of pea gravel and engineered wood fibres, which can be easily moved, resulting in injury, limiting accessibility, and spilling debris around the exterior of the playground,” he told the meeting.
The City received tender submissions from five different companies. A submission by Shercom Industries Inc. received the highest evaluation score and it was considered to offer the best value to the City. The company will provide a five-year manufacturers defect and a seven-year surface deterioration and cracking warranty on the new playground surface.
“A rubber surface provides the best safety protection and accessibility today and is the industry standard for new playground builds,” he said. “This rubber surface is similar to that installed at other playgrounds throughout the city and has been extremely well received by all demographics.”
City agreement with Swift Current Curling Club:
The City has entered into a new twoyear lease agreement with the Swift Current Curling Club for the use of the curling facilities at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex.
Council approved the new two-year agreement for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons at the regular council meeting, March 9.
The total annual rent will be $75,000. This amount is based on a weekly rental fee of $3,571 for a curling season of 21 weeks.
The Swift Current Curling Club will also make an additional annual payment of $10,000 for a period of 10 years to cover previous deficits. This return payment is based on an arrear amount of $83,860.80 plus interest at a rate of 1.5 per cent compounded monthly.
City General Manager of Community Services Jim Jones noted that there has been a long and successful partnership between the City and the Swift Current Curling Club. The club successfully hosted the Women’s World Curling championship in 2010 and 2016, which resulted in a lot of publicity for the community and its ability to host major events.
“The curling club is operated by a group of dedicated volunteers with the sole purpose of growing the sport in Swift Current, the province and Canada,” he said.
“Despite having a slightly lower participation rate in 2018-19, the club has worked extremely hard on its membership, sponsorship and volunteers, offering more leagues, more bonspiels and better organization in the promotion of curling locally.”
He felt a strong partnership between the City and the club will help to enhance the sport of curling in the community. The club is planning to host a major curling event in the next couple of years and it asked the City to be a partner in this endeavour.
“So it’s a win-win situation for us,” he said. “We need the curling rink operating, we need the quality volunteers that are there, and I think this was a very good deal.”