The Town of Cochrane is now the first community in Southern Alberta to install a Liberty Swing in one of its playgrounds.
According to a brochure from PlayWorks, the company that provided equipment for the swing, the Liberty Swing enables children in wheelchairs to enjoy the fun and recreation of swinging. It also contains an internal pop-up seat for people who are not confined to a wheelchair, but who still need the support of the seatbelt.
The swing was installed in the West McDougall playground as part of a 2015 budgeted playground upgrade, partially funded by a Federal Accessibility Fund grant. The playground was also given a new play structure and an update to its conventional swing structure.
Initially, town council approved the $85,000 budget for the playground update for 2015. When the town learned of the Federal Accessibility Fund grant, it sought to increase the budget to $135,000 to incorporate the swing.
“We have a program with all of our playgrounds and over the course of the years we try to update the older playgrounds with new equipment. Partway through the planning for this playground, we realized the grants were available for accessibility. So we added $50,000 to the project for the swing once the grant was approved,” said Mayor Ivan Brooker.
Once the budget was approved, the town and PlayWorks quickly got to work on the playground update.
“The demolition of the previous playground started in the fall of 2015, and it actually wasn’t much demolition. We used a lot of former equipment – the gravel was existing and the framing for the swings was the original,” said Gerry Murphy, manager of Parks and Open Spaces for the town.
Murphy said the town and PlayWorks began the installation of the Liberty Swing in spring of 2016. Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, the project was completed within a couple months.
The swing and the new playground were unveiled on May 6, where the town invited local resident Katie Kelly to christen the Liberty Swing. Kelly loved the experience and said she will definitely be back to try the swing out again.
“It’s pretty unique that Cochrane has this now – especially since it’s the only community in Southern Alberta that does … I want to encourage people to come down and try out the new equipment,” Brooker said.
Also in attendance at the unveiling was the Banff-Airdrie Member of Parliament Blake Richards, who plans to encourage other communities within his constituency to follow Cochrane’s lead.
“This is a great example for other communities. When you’re working to try to make sure that you’re way more inclusive, you’re making accessibility for all children easier, which is always an important goal,” Richards said.
