The first step towards a new playground at Beaver Creek Community Hall began on Sept. 16 after two years of planning.
Nicole Steinbach, of the Beaver Creek Community Club, spearheaded the project a couple years ago with hopes of attracting younger families to the club.
The rusted and aged swing-set and slide will be replaced with a new swing-set and play space that includes a tunnel slide and playhouse.
“It’s a terrible looking playground, we need a new one,” Steinbach said.
Steinbach said the grounds around the park often flood so when children come and play, they get soaked. With construction of the park, the grounds will be leveled and a ditch on the site will also be filled.
Funding for the playground was donated to the Beaver Creek club through the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District’s gas tax fund, which provided them $50,000. In addition, Catalyst Paper donated $1,500 to the project, the Port Alberni Toy Run donated $1,000 and through Funtastic Alberni, they received about $1,100.
Wayne Dumas, of Dumas Trucking, along with Ben Holmquist, of Holmquist Master Builder, will be doing much of the construction of the playground with help from the Rock Solid Youth Group. Mike Steinbach from Hornet Excavating, a major contributor to the Beaver Creek park, is also volunteering his time and equipment in the construction phase.
The playground is estimated to be complete by the end of October.
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