Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/754203
WINTER 2016 BCA A .COM 5 your BCAA O h, the adventures they'll have. The designs have arrived, construction is underway – and kids and families in Lillooet and Victoria are starting to imagine how they'll use their new playgrounds, won through the BCAA Play Here initiative. BCAA Play Here is a multi-year project that's revitalizing community play spaces across BC. The 2016 winners were among more than 500 nominees, and the public cast more than 300,000 votes to decide which finalists should receive a $100,000 revitalization. "The overwhelming number of votes for these two finalists showed the need for better play areas, and BCAA is excited to give both communities a glimpse of what their hard work has done," says BCAA Community Manager Shawn Pettipas. The winning locations – Lillooet REC Centre and Victoria's Torquay Elementary School – are getting customized playgrounds, decked out with the newest equipment, and designs that inspire inclusive, active and creative play. For instance: a swing that allows a Play Starts Here Lillooet and Victoria receive inventive new playgrounds thanks to BCAA's Play Here initiative grown-up to sit face-to-face with his or her child, and a rotating structure that children can climb on or sit in as it spins. Created with five- to 12-year-olds in mind, each playground is also specially designed to suit the size and characteristics of its space, with vibrant, rich colours. Both offer wheelchair- accessible surfaces and features, as well as creative sliding, climbing, balancing and spinning equipment, and interconnected circuit features that allow kids to move from one element to another without having to set foot on the ground. There are other customized touches, too. For example: the Lillooet playground has built-in musical elements that allow children to create sounds that travel through a tube for others to hear. Construction began in both communities in late October. ■ Designs for the new Victoria Torquay Elementary School (here) and Lillooet REC Centre (below) playgrounds feature bright colours and elements to excite the imagination.