The City of Kingston’s first fully inclusive and fully accessible playground is one step closer to reality after Kingston City Council approved $300,000 in funding for the project from the Capital Reserve Fund.
The idea for the playground, which is to be in Shannon Park, has been spearheaded by the community group The Inclusive Play Project (IPP) who, since kicking off the project in September 2023, have also been able to fundraise $200,000 independently ahead of Tuesday’s council decision.
A delegation from IPP presented to council on Tuesday night, reporting findings from their community survey of 200 people that 98% of people don’t feel that playgrounds are meeting community needs or are accessible, and 85% don’t adequately address the age range of 0-12.
Rachel Doornekamp, Project Lead of IPP, says as an occupational therapist by trade she consistently works with children who have complex special needs, and says she’s watched some of those children have to “sit on the sidelines” for a long time.
She said one of the most important factors is ensuring that the park is truly and totally inclusive and accessible, and defining – and educating others on – what that means was where the project needed to begin.
“it’s a lot of educating around – well, accessible means you can get a wheelchair through it, but inclusive means you put regular features through as well,” Doornekamp said.
“So, kids who are able-bodied can play there too, and everybody’s participating together is kind of the vision.”
IPP includes community members who work with special needs as while as parents of children who have special needs, but Doornekamp says it’s also come to include parents who themselves have accessibility issues.
She said through the process, the idea of just what inclusivity covers has expanded.
“We’ve talked to parents who are wheelchair users, and we’ve talked to grandparents who might use a mobility aid,” Doornekamp said.
“The meaning of what true inclusion [is] for the park has kind of morphed as it’s gone along.”
On Wednesday, the city sent out a news release announcing the new funding and approval of Shannon Park as the official site.
City council will also waive all special event and municipal fees for the 2025 Inclusive Fun Fair in order to help direct as much money as possible from that event to the project itself.
The project has a budget of $1.5 million, so with yesterday’s decision there is still two thirds of the way to go before building of the playground can officially begin.
Doornekamp says that yes, there’s work to be done, but they have supporters in the community and feel with what they’ve already been able to raise – $1.5 million will be a very achievable goal.
She says they’re leaving no stone unturned when it comes to fundraising opportunities.
“We’re just hitting the ground running from every avenue that we can,” Doornekamp said.
“But, I mean, given that, in less than a year we’ve raised half a million dollars. So we’ll get there, it’s just going to take a bit more time.”
Doornekamp listed fundraising support from this upcoming weekend’s Back to the Farm festival at Mackinnon Brothers Brewing, as well as a round up campaign with Giant Tiger in September, but the IPP group is hopeful that pending grant applications and a potential partnership with Canadian Tire Jumpstart can do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to remaining fundraising.
Ipp’s delegation announced “advanced conversations” with Canadian Tire Jumpstart at Tuesday’s council meeting, and typically the organization’s funding of projects ranges between $200,000 and $500,000.
All in all, Doornekamp said much will depend on the outcome of grant applications, including the pending EAF Small Project Grant application which would yield $125,000 towards the project, but there’s optimism that the project can begin breaking ground before 2026.
The inclusive playground at Shannon Park could be just the first, as Doornekamp says they’re pushing for many parks throughout the city to be reviewed to see how they could be made more accessible and inclusive, and the delegation on Tuesday emphasized that need.
The city stipulated at Tuesday’s council meeting that if fundraising results in a total above the budgeted $1.5 million, city provided will be directed to purchasing additional inclusive playground equipment for other parks within the city.
