Stage one of Canberra’s Boundless National Children’s Playground is on track to open in June thanks to strong community, public service and government support, organisers say.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Boundless board member Kristen Connell said the project was being developed in three different stages and, once complete, would be a community asset with a value of about $4.5 million.
The first stage, which includes building all the underground services and other infrastructure for the full development, is the most expensive at $2.8 million.
Ms Connell said the early completion of stage one was being made possible by the ACT Government advancing loans totalling $2.5 million for the work now underway.
"The money is a loan; there is a loan agreement and it will be paid back. It is important for people to realise that they shouldn’t stop fundraising when stage one opens; it still has to be paid for," Ms Connell said.
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said the government had loaned the money because it believe the playground was important.
Ms Connell said community support, including from within the public service in the parliamentary triangle, had been strong.
"We have only been at this for two years and we have raised $1.2 million [in cash and kind] already," she said.
This consists of more than $850,000 worth of donated labour and other resources from the territory building sector, $250,000 in community cash donations - about half of which have come from the public service - and a $50,000 Community Centenary Initiatives Fund grant.
The land on which the playground stands, made available at no cost by the National Capital Authority, is literally priceless.
Community donations have come in many forms, ranging from a few dollars a child may have saved from their pocket money to $13,000 cheques from organisations such as the Master Builders Association, which recently donated the proceeds from its annual golf day and dinner.
The need for the playground was identified more than five years ago by an investigation into the lack of an "all-abilities" playground in the territory.
An all-abilities playground is one in which all of the equipment can be used by children regardless of any vision, hearing and mobility impairments or autism spectrum disorders they may have.
Parents of children with disabilities are delighted they will soon have a place where all their children will be able to play in the same place at the same time.
Boundless committee member and project manager Franco Frino said that until Boundless opened, there was nowhere like that for people to go.
"This is a gift to the ACT from the people of the ACT," he said. "It is a legacy project that is being built for the long haul."
Boundless National Children’s Playground:
What: The ACT’s first all abilities playground.
Where: Lake Burley Griffin foreshore (near Carillon)
Size: About the same as an AFL footy ground
Value: $4.5 million
Launched: August 2012.
Completion: Stage one only June 2014. Attractions to include swings, sandpit, water play area, carousel and large fort.