For close to two years Saint Michael School in Weyburn has been fundraising for a new all-abilities accessible playground for their students and other children in the neighborhood to enjoy.

"We applied for multiple grants and we've had fundraisers at the school," told Deanna Schwindt, Learning Facilitator and Accessible Playground Committee Chairperson for Saint Michael School. "There have been parents and families that made cash donations. We've got a Drop & Go account set up at Sarcan. We received a grant from the Weyburn Credit Union for $10,000 as well as $10,000 from the Kinsmen Telemiracle. The Holy Family School Division has put in roughly $30,000 so far. So between those grants, funding opportunities and our fundraisers we've been able to come up with $75,000 necessary for phase one."

The Knights of Columbus, St. Michael School SCC, Rotary Club, Whitecap Resources, Walmart, Western Financial Group, Goliath Disposal, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Women's League and Dart Services all helped as well to make this possible in different ways.

And in less than a week students and residents should start to see what that play structure will look like.

"We have multiple students at Saint Michael School who have mobility issues and cognitive disabilities that effect their ability to play out on the existing play structure," explained Schwindt. "We also have very young children, ages three and up, who also don't have the motor development that allows them to play on the larger structure that we do have. We do have a couple smaller structures for the young kids but looking at all those needs that we have we thought it would be great to develop and fundraise for an accessible and all inclusive play structure that would suite all ages and children of all abilities."

As the project began to grow and become more of a reality the staff at Saint Michael School decided to put together an Accessible Playground Committee to make sure the rest of the process rolled out smoothly and efficiently.

"The Accessible Playground Committee was put together specifically for this project," Schwindt said. "It was a very large undertaking and it was decided that it needed a small group of people to focus solely on this. So we put together a little committee that consists of some parents, staff members, and other family members that all wanted to support this project and see it happen."

Due to the size of this project they will be releasing it in three different phases to ensure that the children are able to begin playing and exploring the structure as soon as possible.

"So phase one consists of the main structure itself," told Schwindt. "There are a couple of independent or freestanding structures that are not part of phase one. But this phase consists of the majority of the structure. It has wheelchair ramps on it and the risers are an accessible height. So students who cannot maybe step up can crawl up them. It has a buddy bus which allows for bigger mobility items such as wheelchairs to sit on it. And it's got other activities at accessible heights around the entire structure."

The main structure will be delivered on Monday, September 28 and they hope to have the phase one portion ready for the kids to play on by sometime the following day if possible.

The design for the new all abilities playground that will be going up at St. Michael School in Weyburn. (Courtesy of Deanna Schwindt)

"We're in the process of doing the prep work and moving a few things around on the school grounds," Schwindt stated. "So that we can put the structure in a nice tidy corner and have it accessible to the kindergarten and the lower elementary school doors. My goal is that the kids will be able to play on it by the end of the 29th or the 30th."

Phase two will begin as soon as they can after phase one is installed and it will feature a bowl swing and a multi-bounce for the little children. For the second portion of the project the committee will need to raise another $15,000 and the third phase will hopefully be covered by some of the grants they have been applying for.

"Phase three comes with paved rubber underneath the entire structure so that any student that has difficulty walking can easily walk to and around the entire main structure," said Schwindt. "The existing ramp will come right up to the pavement along the outside of the school. So students with mobility issues will still be able to access the ramp and play on the play structure while we are waiting for the phase three completion."

All of this wouldn't have been possible without all of the support from Weyburn and area businesses and individuals.

"I just want to thank the community because their an amazing group of people who have really stepped up and supported this project in various ways," Schwindt expressed. "We've got lots of volunteers helping out. The Young Fellows are helping us set up the structure, the Lions Club has been helping out fundraising and coming in to do volunteer work as well, and we've got so many parents and family members who have helped and supported this project. It's been wonderful and I'm very proud to be part of this community. I want to thank absolutely everyone who has participated in making this project happen."