Kindergartners at London Road elementary school in Sarnia could have a new yard in which to play when they start classes next September.
Advertisement 2
Article content
“Our current kindergarten yard is actually in the original parking lot,” said principal Chris Mitchell.
Article content
While there have been a few play items added during the years “it’s certainly not a very inviting or developmentally stimulating place,” he said.
Plans are to upgrade the space with resurfacing, including AstroTurf, space for an outdoor classroom, a figure-eight tyke track with a bridge, armor stones, a sensory path, a mud kitchen, large xylophones and other items to spruce up the space, he said.
“The whole look of it and functionality of it from a little three-, four-, and five-year-old perspective is going to be great.”
Planning has been in the works for about a year, he said, and final drawings are expected soon before putting out a call for bids for the estimated $50,000 project.
Advertisement 3
Article content
“We want to ensure we’re going to have the construction completed this summer,” he said.
The project is one of two toward which the Kinsmen Club of Sarnia has been raising money, said club secretary Pat MacGregor.
Along with a $13,000 donation to the kindergarten yard project, the local service club also has invested $28,000 into Baxter Park during the past two years, she said.
Work at Baxter Park so far has included installing with pergola and historical storyboards on the site where the club’s former building stood, before the run-down building was demolished almost five years ago.
More benches and upgrades to pickleball courts are planned for the park of which the club has been taking care through the city’s adopt-a-park programMacGregor said.
Advertisement 4
Article content
“Just make it more family friendly,” she said about the club’s overall five-year plan.
The club, which has been meeting at the Navy Club in Sarnia, also recently donated $62,0000 to about a dozen community groups, she said.
The money is raised through local fundraisers the club holds such as Ribfest, meat raffles and artisan craft shows, she said, noting a similar amount goes to community groups every year.
This year’s recipients included local food banks, Ohana Landing transitional housing, Bluewater Scouts Canada, local chapters of the Kidney Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Canada, a Kiwanis youth group, a Canadian National Institute for the Blind guide dog program and others.
“We’re out there to help the community,” MacGregor said.
“That’s our big focus.”
Article content