New playground opens in Waterside Estates

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This article was published 21/09/2020 (2031 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Children in Waterside Estates now have a place to play — despite the odds being stacked again them, at times.

Local politicians, stakeholders and community members attended a ceremony earlier this month to cut the ribbon to mark the official opening of a brand-new playground in the community, which is nestled south of Dugald Road to the west of Plessis Road between the St. Boniface Industrial Park and Transcona South neighbourhoods.

For the best part of the last decade, residents in the area have wanted a playground, as there haven’t been any such play facilities in close proximity until now, according to the founder and president of the Waterside Estates Residents’ Association Lorraine Stuart, who has lived in the development since 2012.

Stuart said the association worked hard to fundraise to make its vision of a playground a reality, and it surpassed its fundraising goal of $120,000 by raising slightly more than $200,000.

Along the way, the association has also worked with Transcona Rotary Club, and benefited from the guidance of Peter Martin, who was the chair of the now retired Transcona Playground Renewal Association. It has also received financial support from the City of Winnipeg and Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona).

“As a committee, our goal was to try and get this done, no matter what it took,” Stuart told Canstar Community News recently, noting her gratitude for the Nason, who was instrumental in getting the project done.

“If it wasn’t for Shawn Nason, this playground wouldn’t exist. In 2018 (during the last election campaign), he came knocking on our doors, and heard loud and clear about our need for a playground. After he was elected, he came knocking on my door again and said he had money to support us in a parks and recreation budget, and he wanted to know who to talk to about it.

He knew there was a need for this in the area, and could see the demand.”

Organizers experienced a number of challenges in the process, including an understandable delay in the delivery of a number of building materials due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were also other roadblocks that threatened to jeopardize the project, but the association never gave up, and the project eventually got back on track.

“There were lots of hurdles our committee had to overcome, and at one point we didn’t think the playground was going to look like it does today, but we kept going. We have 500 kids in our neighbourhood, and we know our audience. We knew we wanted certain types of swings to best accommodate the kids in our neighbourhood,” Stuart said.

“The moment the fence came down the day it opened, so many kids ran to the structure. The anticipation was out of control. All I heard was laughter and joy and the sound of new friends being made. There were people in the community meeting for the first time. When I put my daughter to bed that night, she said, ‘mom, I’ve met lots of new kids tonight.’”

For more information, visit Waterside Estates Residents – Winnipeg on Facebook for more information.