By Peter Richardson

A lively discussion was had by members of Mono Council on Tuesday (July 28) concerning the new playground at the Fieldstone Parkette.

Recreation Director Kim Heaton outlined the intended equipment that would be placed at the park, and found opposition from several councillors. Amongst the objections, were the fact that there were two slides and a teeter totter, with no swings. Both Coun. Ralph Manktelow and the Deputy Mayor John Creelman preferred the inclusion of swings, despite Mrs. Heaton’s explanation that swings required tremendous space requirements and are very expensive as a result. A teeter totter costs $1,500, compared to a single swing at $20,000. Ralph also objected to the inclusion of a quiet zone in the design, saying that the way to deal with hyper active children is to keep them busy.

Kim’s response was that there were two slides to accommodate two different age groups and that this was a normal design parameter. She felt that ‘office moms’ and grandmothers approved of the calming room.

She said that the addition of a swing would eliminate half of the
other features, due to space and be very expensive. Coun. Fred Nix voted to
accept Kim’s plan, saying Council should simply “go for it” in regards to the original proposal.

The cost of the playground, designed and built by Play Power from Paris Ontario, would be $147,415.90 HST included.

When asked if the teeter totter could be replaced, the answer was yes, for a
feature of equal monetary value. In the end Council approved the original
design.