St Jude Woodcreek Recreation Area Update
June 28, 2013
Well, it’s the
end of June and the St. Jude playground has been built. What a fabulous build day we had, thank you
to all the volunteers who donated their time and talent, it wouldn’t have
happened without you!
We are still
awaiting one more piece of equipment, climbing blocks, which unfortunately
didn’t make it in time for build day.
Our hope is to install them in the fall.
This piece should be a fun addition.
We are so pleased to see the St. Jude playground being used by the whole
community. We even saw some young adults
on the Explorer Dome the other day! Talk
about a park for all ages!!
On to the skate
spot. We are hearing and reading each
and every comment we receive. Here is some history for those who were unable to
attend the May meeting. WCA (Woodcreek
Community Association) and FCSA (Fish Creek Sports Association) have, for over
a year now, been pursing funding to build a skate spot for the skateboarders,
scooters, and bikers who reside in Woodlands and Woodbine. In September, WCA and St Jude Parent Council agreed
to collaborate on a project and apply for a Let Them Be Kids Helping Hands Award. We were successful in our application to
receive funding for 50% of the playground and skate spot equipment. The build
permits were applied for shortly after our award was announced in March. Information from the City of Calgary about
ownership of the leased lands has meant significant delays in the process. We are following the City of Calgary permit
application process to the letter.
Recently, Cec
Jahrig met with the City of Calgary to see if it would be possible to move the
skate spot closer to the tennis courts as suggested at the public meeting in
May. We thought this was a great
suggestion and have been actively taking steps to see if this was possible. The City of Calgary informed us last week that
yes, we can put the skate spot by the tennis courts. A surveyor will be in the area soon to mark
it off properly. With only two parcels
of land to choose from and the parcel of land in Woodbine being the one with
the space, we were pleased the City of Calgary has allowed us to utilize this
area instead of the original location which was closer to the condos.
Our vision,
WCA, FCSA, and St. Jude, has always been to provide a safe recreation area for
children, youth and their families. This
recreation area, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, pickle ball
courts, basketball courts, an ice rink, a new playground and a skate spot will
be a location for Woodbine and Woodlands residents to enjoy all the sports and
recreation activities our city has to offer.
Our aim is to
keep you updated as we move through the process with the City of Calgary.
If you have
further questions or require more information please contact Cec Jahrig at
Woodcreek Community Association at cjahrig@telus.net.
If the St Jude Parent Council and the WCA were to walk around the tennis Practice Wall, (being described as part of the safe recreation area for children, youth and their families in your latest update), you will notice that once again it has been victimised by graffiti. This is happening on a continuing basis, and I am surprised that you do not acknowledged this problem. I have taken a picture of the latest incident, and would like to send this picture to you to post on your blog. Please advise. People should see some of the problems and realities we as close neighbors face. Would you like your children to be exposed to this? It is easy to turn a blind eye in your desire to get the park built no matter what, as long as it is far removed from yourself.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised at the naivety to think that small children will benefit from this park. It has been shown that the WCA cannot control the problems of unruly youth on the Tennis and Pickle Ball courts.
St Jude wanted the park, so why not built it in your their own backyards. (next to the play ground for instance.) Could it be that you are sitting behind some laws, conveniently set to prohibit this, based on problems that might arise? In your desire to built this park, no matter what, you clearly are violating good neighbor practices.