With the promise of warmer weather on the way, Peterborough GreenUP has officially unveiled Peterborough’s first naturalized playscape on public lands at Ecology Park.
The naturalized playscape, located in the children’s garden near the education shelter, consists of a series of white cedar logs arranged in structures designed for climbing, along with logs, stumps, and rocks arranged for jumping and balancing, all on a soft sawdust surface.
On Friday (March 31), GreenUP invited the media and key community partners to celebrate the naturalized playscape. The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, hot cider, and remarks from Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith.
Funded by a $52,800 grant from the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2021 as well as support from GreenUP donors, the naturalized playscape was designed by Henry Kortekaas & Associates Inc. and constructed by The Little Building Company last fall.
“I hope that when children play on this natural playscape, they feel a stronger connection to their natural surroundings, and are given the opportunity to learn and engage in unstructured, imaginative play,” states Sean Harris, owner of The Little Building Company.
“They can test their limits with the unconventional climbing structure, or interact with the playground perimeter, which features rocks and logs for jumping and balancing.”
“The soft texture and irregularities of the locally sourced white cedar offer a refreshing change from the familiar plastic and metal surfaces,” Harris adds. “When I look at the playscape, I see not only a fun space for children to play and learn, but also an environmentally responsible play area with low embodied carbon cost and no landfill waste at the end of its lifetime.”
The naturalized playscape is the fourth of five capital projects for infrastructure improvements in Ecology Park that were launched by GreenUP in 2017. Along with the naturalized playscape, other capital projects included the rebuilding of the children’s education shelter and installing solar panels on the education shelter, developing accessible pathways, and integrating a sustainable irrigation system.
Longer-term plans also include a nursery greenhouse for Ecology Park that would allow for onsite native plant propagation.
