It takes an organized community effort to support their individual residents.
The 90 volunteers with the Westmount Playground Association are the community that makes a huge difference to everyone from children to seniors, said Jeff Birmingham, president of the New Sudbury recreation group.
He made a presentation to the city's priorities committee Wednesday night on the group's work and the challenges they faced as a result of vandalism this summer.
The association operates out of a 1200 square foot community building off Barry Downe Road. They service a huge area from Maley Drive to the Kingsway, as far west as the old Barry Downe sports complex and as far east as Falconbridge Road, said Birmingham.
"Our catchment area has grown because a number of other nearby facilities have shut down, and the quality of our three outdoor ice surfaces and bocca courts has attracted people to us," he said.
"Because of the dedication and number of volunteers we have to help out even at two in the morning to flood the rink, we have the best outdoor ice surface in the city," said Birmingham.
That volunteer commitment means they house the Sudbury Ringette Association with five teams and a dozen children per team, the Westmount Wolverine hockey team, six teams with 15 players per team, CanSkate programs, two bocca courts for seniors in the summer, and a 4-H program, he said.
"We provided some seed money for the Sudbury 4-H program which is surprising since we are not exactly an agricultural area. But it is popular and a success," he said.
One of the original members, Shelley Gobbo, was chosen by the Ontario 4-H program to speak at a session on Jersey cattle at the Royal Agricultural Fair and she was only 14 years old at the time.
"New Sudbury is not exactly known for its cattle but the mission statement of the 4-H clubs around the world is on self-development and improving communication skills. So 4-H is relevant anywhere," said Birmingham.
Everything the association offers is free.
"Unless you want to book a wedding in our building, our services are provided at no charge. The various sports associations, like ringette, do have a nominal charge though," he said.
There have been challenges.
Last June a portable potty was brought in to support the soccer programs. It was located against the boards for the skating rink. Vandals lit it on fire, burning it and the boards.
"It could have been worse. The fire could have spread to our building where we have a lot of our equipment stored," said Birmingham.
That was followed by another incident, more serious, 10 days later when the playground's play structure, a central focus for the playground, was also torched.
"This play structure was installed in 1990," said Birmingham. "Over the next eight or nine weeks the partners of the association rallied to deal with the crisis. The city gave $35,000 from their insurance settlement, the local representative for Little Tykes gave $37,000, Saturn of Sudbury supplied $8,000 for the installation and threw in an opening barbecue, Ethier Sand and Gravel removed the fire contaminated playground sand and hauled in new material, and our volunteers helped in getting the installation of the unit.
"This could have taken a year or more to accomplish," he added. "With the help of the community it was done in just over two months."
Councillors were impressed, and not only Ward 8 Councillor Ted Callaghan, who suggested the presentation by Birmingham.
"This playground association does so much for our community. For example, flooding a rink at two in the morning. This is a sign of a healthy community," said Ward 5 Councillor Ron Dupuis.
