Waskasoo playground project gets funding to start final phase

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The renovation will triple the size of the play area, replace the sand surfacing with barrier-free engineered wood fibre, and install unique play structures that evoke the pre-settlement condition of the land. The play area will be divided into three zones: a sand zone with a carved bison skeleton buried just under the surface, a swing zone with baby swings, and a sculpture zone that houses the park’s main feature: the rising head of a proud elk. Twelve feet tall at their highest point, the elk’s antlers are composed of logs and ropes and will encourage climbing, balancing, and gathering. The head itself is clad in wood panels with climbing holds to help little ones, an open net area at the top for balancing, observing, and resting, and flexform rubber panels at the back for sliding and bouncing. The interior can also be accessed by two wheel-chair accessible entrances and has a bench for quiet play and gathering. While younger children can explore the interior and climb the lower levels, older siblings and adults can explore the ropes, net, and taller logs of the antlers.

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Third-party assessments in 2016 determined that the Waskasoo’s communal areas needed to create a sense of place and help foster a healthy, vibrant community.

With that in mind, phases one and two of this project included a community garden, food forest, and gazebo with water catchment.

“Sense of place will be kindled by the park’s ‘Prairie to Parkland’ theme inspired by the surrounding geography which includes the Red Deer River, represented by the meandering pathway, the southern grassy plains, represented by the field and berm, and the northern wooded parklands, represented by the trees, borders, elk, and bison,” association president John Bouw says in a release.

“The elk has a particular local significance since this portion of the Red Deer River valley were at one time home to herds of elk that brought many First Nations and Métis to the area. The word ‘waskasoo’ is derived from the Nêhiyaw-Askiy word for ‘elk.'”

More about the project is at waskasoo.com.

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