Skip to content

McKay Street Park ready to start playground construction

Council approved Transition Prince Rupert’s use of city property at the Nov. 14 council meeting
9390724_web1_WEBMcKayAerial
A mock-up of the plans for McKay Street Park (File photo)

Construction has been approved for the playground at McKay Street Park, after city council granted Transition Prince Rupert permission to manage city property.

Ken Shaw, president of Transition Prince Rupert, presented an update on the park at the Nov. 14 council meeting, seeking formal support to allow the project to move forward.

“It’s quite an ambitious design — architects are very good at that. It’s down to the contractors and engineers to translate into reality,” Shaw said during his presentation.

The union voted to support the project by using a volunteer contractor, who Shaw said was prepared to begin work on the park several weeks ago.

The design for McKay Street Park has been in the works since 2015. Last summer, after a city-wide effort to win the BCAA PlayHere contest, Transition Prince Rupert was granted $100,000 to build the playground. Some of the other park features will include a covered basketball court, covered skateboard park, community hall, picnic shelter, nature play area, dog park and an expansion of the community garden, however, funds have not been raised for those plans yet.

READ MORE: COMMUNITY RALLIES WIN $100,000 FOR MCKAY STREET PARK

The next steps are to get the equipment, clear the site, and install “as soon as the hands are able to do it and when the weather permits,” Shaw said. “BCAA wanted it installed in September, so we’re ready to go as soon as we can.”

Input, donations and space came from many community organizations.

“It’s a real community project,” Shaw said. “But of course, the real support was the people of Prince Rupert who every day last May voted for this project… It was quite exciting to see that, so thank you to Prince Rupert.”

READ MORE: FINAL MCKAY STREET PARK DESIGNS UNVEILED BY TRANSITION PRINCE RUPERT



keili.bartlett@thenorthernview.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter