A nautical-themed playground complete with sea serpent and pirate ship, beach volleyball courts, public washrooms and shower facilities, a family picnic site, kayak launch and wheelchair access to the waterfront are envisioned for the Maritime Gateway Park slated for land at the foot of the Construction Aggregates wharf in Sechelt at the end of Wharf Road.
The Sunshine Coast Rotary Club is moving this vision forward and is currently working on phase one of the project, the children's playground.
"We've got two sites here that we're calling the upper and lower sites. The upper site was District of Sechelt property and it was donated to the Sunshine Coast Rotary Club in partnership for the kids' park. That's the first phase. Our Rotary Club raised all the money for the playground equipment [$28,000], which we have already purchased, through fundraising events. And Construction Aggregates brought in 100 loads of sand to build up the site. They have been great sponsors so far, and they are going to do a lot more with us," said Clark Hamilton, Rotary director for the Maritime Gateway Park.
The land, which is divided into two parcels, one formerly owned by the District of Sechelt and the other formerly Petro Canada property, have been destined for some sort of maritime project for many years.
"At one point it was to be used for the Seaside Centre but that fell through because the Petro Canada site [had not yet been] given a clean bill of health. It needed to be reclaimed and that has been done over the past five to seven years," Hamilton noted.
The Sunshine Coast Rotary Club fixed their eyes on the lower site once it passed environmental testing, envisioning beach volleyball courts, washrooms and a shower facility there, but they had trouble getting Petro Canada to hand over the deed, said Hamilton.
"We had this idea for Petro Canada to donate the property but they said no. So then we came up with the scheme that the District would give them a tax credit for the donation and they said okay. So they deeded the land to the District and the District allowed us to use the land for the park. It ended up being a good deal, even though it took a long time getting through the different levels of government and the private sector," Hamilton said.
He noted the Rotary Club has been working on trying to secure the property and get the Maritime Gateway Park underway for about four years now.
Everything was finally in place for the Sunshine Coast Rotary Club to start getting to work on the new park a couple of months ago and Rotarians have been giving up their Saturdays to come to the site and start prepping it.
There have also been District of Sechelt labourers giving their time to do things like clear blackberry bushes from the lower site. Hamilton said many private businesses have volunteered their time and expertise with the project so far.
"Construction Aggregates has donated close to $10,000 worth of fill, and companies like Doug Kennedy Trucking, NB Construction and Spani Developments have donated their time or equipment to help out. John Gillespie of Wakefield Homes has volunteered to construct the playground for us and he's been instrumental in getting all of this going," Hamilton said.
The entire project is expected to cost about $500,000 to complete. So far Hamilton estimates about $60,000 has been invested into the project through the Rotary Club, donations from businesses and volunteer labour.
The Sunshine Coast Rotary Club is also applying for a gaming grant of $200,000 that they hope will help kick start the development of the volleyball courts on the lower site, and the District of Sechelt has committed $70,000 toward new road works needed for the park's construction.
The Club expects to have the first phase of the project (the playground) completed by the spring, and they are looking for more donations of time, expertise and money to be offered to complete the lower site. They also welcome suggestions of what to include in phase two, noting it is still a fluid process.
"This is a two-year project and we would welcome any support we could get from the community," Hamilton said, adding they are grateful for the support they have received so far.
"This is something we see will fill a need in our community. We believe in the youth and the community we live in, and anything we can do to better the health and welfare of our youth, the better off we all are. We think it's needed and we feel it's rewarding to give."
If you would like to help financially or otherwise, contact Hamilton at 604-885-2901 or Al Mulholland at 604-885-1959.
