Work to improve 34 playgrounds across Windsor has wrapped up.
The city mark the milestone Monday morning at the new South Cameron Woodlot Park playground in the area of Ojibway Street and Rankin Avenue.
The new accessible playground at the park cost $350,000 and features varies play structures, benches, a bike rack and fencing to protect both the woodlot and users.
Mayor Drew Dilkens says the citywide initiative started in 2021 and cost $10.3-million.
He says the improvements came in on time and on budget.
Dilkens says the response from the community has been very positive.
"You know when we make investments in our parks whether it's pickleball courts, whether it's tennis court upgrades, it doesn't really matter what we do in the park, when we put trails in and certainly on the playground front, the response is always extremely positive," says Dilkens. "People in Windsor love their parks. They love quality parks and I'm happy we have over 200 parks in our network."
He says residents know where the good parks and playgrounds are and they become amenities that the community starts taking care of.
"The nicer you make the park, the more people in the area want to take care of that park which is great to have that ownership in these assets because they're not cheap," he says. "This is an expensive investment and we've seen in the past some difficult things where there's been some vandalism which has been disheartening but when you have a nice feature like this you see the community taking more pride which is great for all of us as well."
Dilkens says the city is really happy with the playground improvements.
"As we were doing some of those projects, we were in the middle of COVID and it added some complexity to it but a lot of the construction is actually outsourced and so folks were able to keep moving forward," says Dilkens. "There were a few hiccups but at the end of the day on time and on budget."
City council originally set aside $9.4-million for 32 playground improvements but added an additional $900,000 to include Wilson Park and Legacy Park.