HUMBOLDT — Humboldt residents will be able to get their voices heard and influence which design is picked for the upgrade to the Bill Brecht Memorial Park playground.
While the Bill Brecht Playground Upgrade Committee has 40 per cent of the deciding say, Cynthie Gaetz, committee president, said the other 60 per cent will be from community votes.
“This week we’re introducing the three companies and showing their designs and how much they’re asking for their designs. So everyone can get an idea of how much it actually costs,” Gaetz said.
“We would like the whole community to vote.”
The three companies with submitted proposals are Northland Recreation Supply, 1 Stop Playgrounds and Play Quest.
The proposals were based on a previous survey the Upgrade Committee spread, asking community members what they would like to see in the park.
Started earlier this year, the Bill Brecht Playground Upgrade Committee was formed exclusively to upgrade but Gaetz said the newly formed committee is also responsible for organizing recreational activities at the park such as Easter egg hunts.
“We don’t want our committee to just be about taking people’s money and getting a new park, we also have been looking into some winter activities,” Gaetz said. “We have some volunteers to do some winter things, like we’re going to make a snow hill in the middle of our ball diamond in a certain location that doesn’t harm any of the ball diamonds. We’re also looking at other activities like a mini curling rink.”
Links to voting can be found, once available, on their Facebook groups which include “Bill Brecht Park Upgrade” and “Bill Brecht Park Community.”
Past fundraisers for the upgrades include cotton candy sales and a Co-op gift card fundraiser.
“We haven’t gotten everything set up quite yet so if people were looking for cash donations I would wait until we have our sponsor levels set up. We’re working on that right now and filling out grants and things like that,” Gaetz said.
“The city has committed to help us financially once we have more of a concrete goal, then they will give us an exact number for how much they’re helping us.”
