Iron River School’s dream of a new playground is becoming a reality

The final push is on to raise funds for the Iron River School.

The current Iron River School playground is close to 25-years-old and there are longstanding concerns about accessibility and deteriorating equipment. Parents took it upon themselves to make the dream of a new playground for the school a reality and they almost have enough funds raised to complete.

“School playground upgrades and replacement do not receive funding from the school division which means that the Iron River School Parent Council is the sole fundraiser for this project,” said Alisha Kunec, Vice President of the Parent Council Association for Iron River School.

“We have been working diligently to raise the money needed through fundraising endeavors (such as our yearly silent auction), appeals to community generosity and grant programming.”

 

The proposed playground will be sourced from an Alberta company and has many exciting features including a multi leveled play structure with three slides, a zipline, a parkour-style obstacle course and a wheelchair ramp.

“We plan to use local business and community volunteers where permitted to supply materials and/or labour,” Kunec said.

This space is a critical recreation facility not only for the students at Iron River School but also for families and children from Iron River and beyond. The Parent Council Association for Iron River School just recently secured a grant to help make this dream a reality.

“We are excited to announce that we have finally received some grant funding in the amount of $75,000 from the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant,” Kunec told Lakeland Connect. “When all funding is in place and the playground is complete, we plan to host a grand opening celebration to showcase all of our donors and express our appreciation.”

The amount of money needed to complete the playground is $400,000. So far the parents have raised $242,000.

“We are getting closer to our goal and hope that with further support we will be able to install the new playground this summer,” Kunec said.

If anyone has questions or would like to donate they can call the school at  780-826-5617 or email the association at [email protected]