Addison Place Playground Project

The Cause

The Acadia Community Association is working with community stakeholders to build a new, engaging and accessible playground in a small park encircled by the Addison Place cul-de-sac. We have partnered with PlayQuest and have designed a new playground to activate our community’s green space, which currently sees little use and can support only a few recreational needs. Our new play equipment and surfacing will allow children of diverse abilities and backgrounds to meaningfully access the space while encouraging family and social gatherings on the margins of the playground. Far from being just a playground, this project is a tangible, practical and timely investment in our community youth’s pandemic resilience.
Our project will remove the few current items of playground equipment at Addison Place park before installing a new playground there. PlayQuest has worked in tandem with our association, community stakeholders and the City of Calgary. We have compiled a plan of action to ensure the successful installation of this vital piece of infrastructure.
Our planned equipment includes multifunctional structures that target multiple play experiences including spinning, running and climbing sensory interaction that follows the seven elements of play. The new playground will safely accommodate many children at once with or without physical distancing; we will also install inclusive swings designed to be easily accessible to children using mobility aids and enjoyed by multiple children simultaneously. The City of Calgary has offered in-kind donations to cover the installation and surfacing of the new facility, an important contribution which makes our project especially cost-effective and timely.
When completed, the new playground will enhance the social and recreational infrastructure available to residents around Addison Place, within Acadia and in the broader Calgary area. The site will be open to the public year-round and has an expected service life of several decades. As a key plank in our community’s recovery and resilience from COVID-19, we expect this to be a highly trafficked facility encouraging healthy, safe recreation and socialization among children and families. As we are closely involved with our neighbourhood, our Association will be kept well informed about the impacts of the new equipment. We will know that the amenities are a success if we see families gathering and users of different ages and abilities there throughout the days and seasons.

Who Will it Benefit?

The playground project will most directly benefit the Acadia neighbourhood but will also provide an area for families from surrounding neighbourhoods as well. It will significantly enhance the social and recreational infrastructure available to residents. The site will be fully open to the public year-round and has an expected service life of several decades. As a key plank in our community’s recovery and resilience from COVID-19, we expect this to be a highly trafficked facility which will encourage healthy, safe recreation and socialization among area children and families.