Playgrounds at two Nanaimo elementary schools are about to get some much-needed improvements.
The district received a $17,500 grant to pay for playground projects at Georgia Avenue and Park Avenue elementary schools.
In November, the district applied for a grant through the School Community Connections program to pay for two projects that would increase the amount of community use at both sites: goal posts for Park Avenue and extra playground equipment for Georgia Avenue.
District officials estimate that it will cost about $4,000 to buy and install the goal posts at Park Avenue and then the remainder will go toward extra playground equipment at Georgia Avenue, which received a $25,000 grant last June to replace some of the older playground equipment at the school, said Pete Sabo, the district’s director of planning and operations. He said the Park Avenue project will allow the school to use its lower field for soccer and football, allowing for two games to go on simultaneously – the upper field already has goal posts – and community groups will be able to rent the field for practices and games.
The work must be completed at both schools by the end of March, Sabo added.
The School Community Connections program launched in 2005 through a one-time, $10-million grant from the Education Ministry.