Council approves $6.8M to fund playground replacement program

City council voted toapprove $6.8-million in additional funding to replace 28 playgrounds that will be removed by the end of the year in Windsor.

A playground audit in 2015 recommendedthat 15 playgrounds be removed due to safety concerns.

• Windsor to spend $120K on playground safety audit

That report, tabled to council in December 2015, included an option that suggested "an overall reduction in the number of playgrounds as well as theeliminationof play units that are in close proximity to another play unit."

Council endorsedthe option, cutting 7 playgrounds from the city's system overall and removing15playgrounds "with no identified funding for replacement," according to a report presented to council ahead of tonight's meeting.

Three of those have since been replaced, according to the report - but 12 of those still need funding. Since that audit was completed, city staff have identified an additional 16 playgrounds that need to be removed before the end of the year.

The largest chunk of the funding $4.3-millionwould come from the $7.2-million in placeholder funding for a new multi-story parking garage.

An additional $1.85-million wouldbe pulled from the 2017 5-year capital budget and $654,175 from next year's capital budget.

The report said that there's a "substantial backlog" in the replacement of parks and cautioned that "it would physically take at least 2 years to replace all of the units."

The report estimates it will cost $1.5-million to $2-million annually "to address replacement units over the next 20 years."

You can viewa complete list of the playgrounds slated for replacement in the City of Windsor's agenda here.