Tofino’s Village Green was full of festive swashbuckling on June 1 as the town held a pirate-themed party to celebrate the grand opening of a brand new playground.
“It is really important to bring people together from all parts of the community to celebrate our successes,” Tofino mayor Josie Osborne told the Westerly News.
The new activity-inducing equipment includes a wooden ship structure as well as an obstacle course and slides.
“It’s all designed around risky play and having fun,” Osborne said.
Tofino’s manager of public spaces April Froment told the Westerly News that the old playground was popular, but had reached the end of its life. She said the new playground project cost roughly $200,000, the majority of which came from an “incredible” $140,000 donation.
“Although the district had some funding earmarked for a new playground structure, it fell short of what was needed and staff began looking for, and applying for, grant funds to make the project happen,” she said. “A short while after being unsuccessful at one such grant opportunity, we were contacted by a community member who very generously offered to donate the funds that were needed to make the new playground a reality.”
She added that the remaining funds were found in Tofino’s Parks Capital Projects budget and Resort Municipality Initiative dollars.
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