A proposed Prince George mega-park has the support of Jumpstart Charities, but doesn’t yet have the financial commitment to build a $1.1 million inclusive playground set in stone.
During the March 14 council meeting, project organizers presented a rough budget of the proposed mega-park which included an estimated $1.1 million dollars from Canadian Tire and Jumpstart to provide a fully accessible playground.
However, Marco Di Buono, associate vice-president of funding and operations at Jumpstart, clarified the charity has not yet financially committed to the project at this time.
“The conversations we've had with the organizers who are really visionary and really key really are just that - they are conversations committing to further discussions when the project gets firmed up a little bit,” said Di Buono.
Di Buono said Jumpstart is committed to continue exploring the project and deciding what role the charity will play as it develops.
“It may have been a little bit overly communicated in terms of how firm the commitment is but that is not going to prohibit us from working with them and scoping this out.”
The mega-park project is still in very early stages, and the organizers are currently working with rough estimates of budget and design concepts, prior to an upcoming public consultation process.
“We're going to be there the whole way and see if there is a role for us to play and we will play it without question,” said Di Buono. “We just want to, at this point, make sure that everyone knows, it's still quite fluid in terms of where this is going to land.”
Selen Alpay, owner of Prince George Canadian Tire, says nothing has changed with the project but wants to manage expectations.
“It's hard to know what the financial commitments are going to be because we don't know that without a public forum, we don't know that without speaking to all the other partners, and what costs are going to be incurred,” said Alpay, stating that support for the project has not wavered.
“Our dealer Selen Alpay is a phenomenal champion of the community and it's really through his love and commitment to the community that he brought us into the conversation with the mega-park and again why we're committed to continuing the discussion,” added Di Buono.
Mindy Stroet, director of development at the Prince George Community Foundation, said the public consultation process will help shape the project as it moves forward.
“All of the partners are committed to this project and that's our next step as outlined on Monday night, is public consultation and working with the city on the site location.”
The mega-park project is led by the Prince George Community Foundation, the Rotary Club of Prince George and Hell Yeah Prince George’s David Mothus, and is intended to be a destination for the entire community.
The concept is that the park would include the accessible playground as well as a BMX pump track, junior and teen adventure park, senior-friendly fitness equipment, and a splash pad.
Jumpstart is, however, already moving forward with a separate $500,000 multi-sport court, announced in the fall of 2021, to be built at Carrie Jane Gray Park.
The charity has been working with city council and city staff to build an accessibility-friendly multi-sport park which they intend to complete later this year.
“That one's going to materialize more quickly, and we are still very optimistic that we're going to be able to get that built this year and open it up late in the summer or early in the fall,” said Di Buono.
