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Until a year ago, you could count the number of creative playgrounds in Waterloo Region on one hand. Two playâ€" grounds existed at Meadowlane and Bridgeport public schools in Kitchener and two were under construction at Lexington and Ayr public schools. Creative playgroul;ds have enjo}ed popularity in Europe ‘or 10 years and in Toronto for five, but they have only beâ€" come a familiar sight in the region within the last year. _ Creative Playgrounds : Everyone is building them Today, more than 20 are being built in Waterloo, Kitchenâ€" »r, Cambridge, Elmira and New Dundee. Half of them have September as a project completion date. The remaining ten are in various stages of planning and development. Parents, teachers, school consultants and recreation diâ€" rectors are now building dozens of creative playgrounds in school yards and parks throughout the region, These playâ€" grounds range from simple, neighbourhood projects that cost $14 to elaborate, purchased playgrounds that retail for $40,000. [C sung â€" AUE! ES vhisl. yebrarbe¥‘ etrmrorr© sotrye® Page 20 â€" Waterioo Chronicle, Wednesday, July 23, 1975 Traditional steel swings and teeter totters are being replaced by old tractor tires and ropes in Waterloo Region school yards. This young girl prefers the new style to the old as she swings in the school yard of Alexandra public school in Waterioo. This $40,000 creative playground will be built at Victoria Park in Kitchener by Kitchener‘s Parks and Recreation department. It will feature log fortresses, concrete tunnels, a wading pool, swings and slides. When completed, it will be the largest creative playground in the region. Regional news and views Creative playgrounds are designed to stimulate the creaâ€" tivity and imagination of the child. Wooden platforms, rub ber tires and cargo nets are used as construction materials instead of traditional steel equipment. Creative playground components transform asphalt school yards into places where children can slide, swing, climb and roll. The catalyst that started the local building boom this sumâ€" mer was the sudden availability of funds to pay for conâ€" struction and labour costs. The Waterloo County Separate School Board received an Experience 75 grant of $5,000 from the provincial government last May to build four creaâ€" tive playgrounds. The board added some of its own money to the grant and hired eight high school students. The stuâ€" dents will spend July and August building creative playâ€" grounds at St. Michael school in Waterloo, St. Aloysius and St. John schools in Kitchener, St. Clements and St. Joâ€" seph schools in Cambridge, and St. Boniface school in Maryâ€" hill. The separate school board hired two Conestoga College design students to plan models for creative playgrounds. The two students, Jim Budd and Doug Jamieson, are deâ€" signing and supervising the construction of the six separate school playgrounds. school playgrounds. The availability of manufactured creative playground The Waterloo County Board of Education also received an components has also spurred local construction says Don Experience ©75 grant this summer to design creative playâ€" Chase. Two Toronto companies and several American comâ€" grounds. With this money, the board hired Jim Budd and panies now make preâ€"fabricated creative playground comâ€" Doug Jamieson to design creative playground models for ponents. Coronation, Grandview and Riverside public schools in Camâ€" _ The Victoria Park playground, which will be called, The bridge and Howard Robertson school in Kitchener. It als&’f}afice, will contain mestly manufactured components. alloted a budget of $6,000 to pay for construction materia ‘‘We just don‘t have the time or manpower to build them at the four playgrounds. . ourselves, so we are using manufactured equipment,""‘ said Neighhourhond crouns have also contributed money for Mr. Chase. . Neighbourhood groups have also contributed money for creative playground construction. A group of students and parents at Howard Robertson school in Kitchener raised $1,500 for a playground through a chocolate bar campaign. Students at Coronation public school in Cambridge sold Tâ€"shirts to raise money for their creative playground. Parents have donated their time in the evenings to dig post holes, hammer nails and hang cargo hets for the playâ€" grounds. Last fall, parents and teachers at Alexandra pubâ€" lic school in Waterloo built a playground in three weeks with donated equipment and $2,000. Alexandra school‘s creaâ€" tive playground is currently the most elaborate and comâ€" plete in the region. _ Another incentive to creative playground construction was the availability of grants from the Waterloo County Board of Education and Waterloo council. The Waterloo County Board of Education gave $500 grants to schools in Winterbourne, Waterloo and Elmira. Waterloo council gave $500 to Alexandra, Winston Churchill and Lexâ€" ington public schools. "The city of Waterloo gave $500 grants to each of these groups after they made presentations to council and reâ€" ceived approval from the Waterloo County Board of Eduâ€" cation."" said Waterloo community services director, Ken Pflug. “Avny school can make a presentation and receive a grant as long as they have local support and board approval."‘ MrAUPflug said several schools have received a total of $1,000 in grants from Waterloo council and the Waterloo County Board of Education. â€" Swain van Camp, an athletic consultant with the Waterâ€" loo County Board of Education, attributes the sudden growth of creative playgrounds to increased parental interest in the creative playground concept.‘ P ‘‘*With so many hiâ€"rises being built and trees being cut down, there is more and more concern about having places for children to play ... One of the things that has really helpâ€" ed is the creative play area at Ontario Place. Parents, themâ€" selves, have seen how much children like creative play areas,"‘ he said. Don Chase, supervisor of design and development for Kitâ€" chener Parks and Recreation, also thinks‘ local interest in creative playgrounds has increased in the past few years. ‘The parental interest is definitely here unlike other areas," he said. ‘"We‘ve got a good combination of people who are really interested in creative playgrounds in the area right now .‘ Mr. Chase said the Play Environment Advisory Commitâ€" tee (PEAC), which was formed two years ago, has played an important role in educating the public about creative playgrounds. Members of PEAC have spoken to parents, groups, conducted seminars and designed playground moâ€" dels. 4 ‘"‘Two years ago, when we set up PEAC, there were only a couple of creative playgrounds underway. Since that time there has been an incredible amount of interest and activity in them by people in the private sector,"‘ he said. Kitchener‘s Parks and Recreation department plans to build the largest creative playground in the region this sumâ€" mer at Victoria Park. The $40,000 project will be built with manufactured playground equipment by a contractor. It will feature a wading pool, several forts, tunnels, pipe slides wave slides and a manâ€"made earth hill. Although creative playgrounds are being built at a greatâ€" er rate than ever before in Waterloo Region, the building boom is just beginning. Kitchener‘s Parks and Recreation department plans to build more in cooperation with the two school boards. ‘"‘They are a high priority in our budget right now," says Don Chase. And Brian Kirkham, a member of the playground advisâ€" ory committee, says 40 more creative playgrounds are in the planning and development stage throughout the region. Jim Budd. a design consultant hired by the Waterâ€" loo County Board of Education and the Separate School Board, looks at a model of a creative playâ€" ground he designed for Grandview public school in Cambridge. Story and Photos By Mary Johnston