The playground located between Stone Avenue and Larch Street in Lake Cowichan’s 100 Houses area could use an upgrade, council learned recently.
Three boys and a couple of parents showed up to a parks, recreation, and culture committee meeting with a presentation about the need for a better sports court.
Korbyn McGonigle, Jake Kelly, and Tyler Mykle spoke to councillors, accompanying their presentation with some photos on an iPad to illustrate exactly what was needed.
McGonigle spoke for the trio, suggesting that the Town of Lake Cowichan “could perhaps look at chain link fences around the park so parents could keep an eye on their children for safety.
“It would be nice to see if you could build a storage shed for our hockey nets and equipment so it wouldn’t get ruined by the weather and make it easy to switch sports for game play. We were also wondering about a picnic table and possibly removing rocks by the main road and return the fence, again for safety reasons.
“It would be nice to see a light in the park so we could play a little bit longer in the winter months. The 100 Houses park is used by people from all over Lake Cowichan because of the newer playground equipment.
“With these upgrades, it will be a much more inviting space. There are many families moving to the area with small children and a safe play space makes for a healthy younger generation,” McGonigle said.
Afterwards, he explained to councillors that, “The reason we want the hockey storage is that little kids come to the park and they sit on our nets.”
A parent, who has lived on Hemlock Street “for over 12 years” also spoke up, saying, “the park playground we’ve got there is amazing.”
She explained that when she arrived in the subdivision, her son was very small, and the park equipment “was ratty; there was a slide about 40 feet high, and a couple of old school swings. I said: there’s nothing here for infants. Is it possible to bring something in. And, I’m not kidding, four hours later, there was an infant swing. Maybe six years ago, it was completely redone.”
However, the sport court has been “gradually deteriorating over time”, she added.
Council never makes decisions at the time when delegations speak but said they’d look at it at a later date.