Construction Of "Natural" Playground Completed At Birchwood Park

Construction on the innovative natural playground in Birchwood Park is now complete and will be officially open to the public on Tuesday May 24.

Arborist for the Town of High River Darlene Donovan says it's a one-of-a-kind park compared to the standard metal and plastic ones.

"It's more of an open playground using more natural emements like trees, rocks and wood to allow children to create their own play space."

She says that 34 of the 104 new trees the town got earlier this week were also planted to provide shade in years to come.

Donovan says there is no need to worry about slivers either.

"So these ones are speced out according to playground safety standards so we try to make sure we follow those in all of our playgrounds so this park meets those standards to ensure that it's safe for the kids."

She says the original equipment was destroyed in the 2013 flood so the project got a little cash boost.

"The project was possible because of a grant we received from The Calgary Foundation and it helped a lot in getting that playground up and going."