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Correspondence
From Jutta Mason to Chris Gallop, assistant to Councillor Adam Giambrone, to John Abela, Tech Services manager, and to Mary Battaglia, general Parks Supervisor Toronto/EY West, June 14 2010.
After the playground site meeting on Friday June 11, I went up to Wychwood Park and took pictures of the tap at their sand-waterplay area. It would be good to instal a similar tap at Dufferin Grove. About 15 feet of pipe would have to be laid in the ground, to get from the existing water source to the sandpit. The base ought to be concrete or metal and the actual tap ought to have a slightly sturdier handle, since I noted that the one at Wychwood is a bit wobbly already. Here are some photos of the relevant sand-waterplay features: http://dufferinpark.ca/play/wiki/wiki.php?n=Sandpit.FrontPage
So what we need for Dufferin Grove is a larger, solid, lockable water access and a concrete in-ground water tap with a very sturdy handle. Please let me know if this can be done here.
I would request that the tech services staff consult with us once more before doing the work, to make sure the solution fits this problem. (E-mailed drawings are fine if there's no time to go to the park.)
From T.C., park neighbour, to the dufferingrovefriends list, June 14 2010
As one of the neighbours living directly behind the children's playground, it came to my attention that the water tap for the children's adventure area had been inadvertently left on overnight on several occasions last summer (at a rate of roughly 4 litres/minute...240 litres/hour). I was unable to shut the tap off at the source, since it had been locked.
This season we have a somewhat different situation. Last night, although the tap may have been shut off when the staff left, there is no lock anymore, and older boys came and turned it back on. I politely asked them to turn it off when they were finished playing, to no avail.
When they left after 9pm it was still running.
I'm all for the kids building dams and bridges, etc., and messing about in the muck. I'm sure we've all done our share of that as children, but in this day of conserving our vital resources, this immense waste of water, when there are no children remaining in the park, needs to be addressed.
The other issue I would like to mention is regarding the shovels left askew throughout the playground, and in the lane way overnight.
Last night, these same older boys took to using the shovels as weapons against each other, and to destroy the toys left out for the younger kids. The situation escalated to the point where some of my neighbours came out to attempt to diffuse the situation. This is another ongoing harmful and destructive matter.
To me, the resolution is simple...lock up the shovels and the water tap at night.
From Jutta Mason to T.C., dufferingrovefriends posting, June 14 2010
...great minds think alike! There was just a site meeting with the manager of Tech Services about this problem on Friday.
Dufferin Grove program staff and park users have been asking the Parks staff to address the water issues at the sand-pit adventure playground for a few years now. Until recently, the City did not consider the sandpit as part of the playground, and so did not regard the problems as theirs to deal with. However, help is on the way. It sounds as though the city is now willing to build a more solid water outlet, easily lockable and secure, hopefully with a proper tap like the one the City installed in the sandplay/waterplay area of the park at the Wychwood barns.
Locking up the shovels will shortly begin, since the park is about to begin its summer mode.
Kids are rascals at times, but they sure do love the adventure playground. However, there's no need to waste water when nobody's there, as you said. Nor to lose shovels.
E-mail to John Abela, Technical Services supervisor, from Jutta Mason, June 19 2010
I thought we might have a hard time showing you what we wanted for the sandpit, but it turned out you were already somewhat on the same page. That meeting was a nice surprise. After some years of confusion about the City's attention to the sandpit/adventure playground part of the park, I had the impression from both you and Doug Muir that you intend to make it work.
Below I've compiled what we talked about at our meeting, using Mayssan's (on-site staff) notes. Can you check to see if yours match?
1. Water:
- water outlet: within the next 2-3 weeks, Tech Services will be installing a larger irrigation box, with a hose connector so that a hose can also be attached. Also there will be turn-off inside the box, for the sandpit water tap. You''ll drill a hole for the hose to pass through, and also put a hasp on the box so it can be locked with a city padlock.
- sandpit tap: the sandpit tap will be located just inside the northwest corner of the log enclosure. The tap will be secured in a cedar housing made for child height, connected underground to the water outlet. It will have the sturdiest handle possible, easy to turn on (and leave on) or off. The tap will be threaded so that a garden hose can be connected if necessary.
- water drainage: to the immediate north of the lane way fence, tech services will construct a French drain about 100 square feet (?) in size, made by excavating the soil to a depth of about 18 inches and replacing it with a layer of gravel, then filter cloth, then beach sand. This work will be carried out in the fall.
2. Sand:
- enlarging the sandpit enclosure: within the next 2 - 3 weeks, Tech Services will be
- (1) moving the existing logs to enlarge the sandpit area to the south by 5 - 10 feet, and adding some logs from Forestry to enclose the larger area.
- (2) replacing existing sand into the log enclosure: to lower the areas around the enclosure and put more sand back inside.
- (3) levelling out the children's excavations from the sandpit down to the laneway.
- (4) knocking off the protruding top of the former circus tightrope holder, and removing the remaining tightrope post.
- (5) Picking up the junk wood that on-site staff put aside.
Important note:
- On-site park program staff will be notified the day before the five elements of sand maintenance work are scheduled, and the work will be done in the presence of one of those program staff. That will also give them a chance to pile all toys and wood to the side of the adventure playground area.
E-mail to dufferingrovefriends listserv, June 19 2010
Dear playground users,
Just an update about the concerns many of us share about wasting water at the sandpit/adventure playground. There was a very good site meeting with Parks Tech Services staff on Friday, and it looks as though - with help from Councillor Giambrone -- some long-awaited improvements are going to happen soon. Tech Services staff are going to instal a proper, heavy-duty tap that people can turn off and on (not running all the time) and a much stronger water box that staff can lock easily after they turn off the main water supply every evening.
A backhoe will come in to relocate the sand several times this season, and in the fall, the staff will create a sizable French drain at the bottom before the mud goes into the storm sewer.
Thanks goes to park neighbour Emily Weedon, who happened upon the site meeting and made an eloquent case for better water management, so the Tech Services guys didn't only hear it from the park's program staff. Thanks also to the school classes having their park day, so that the sandpit was full of little engineers, and the Tech Services staff could finally see what program staff have been talking about.
As far as I can see, Tech Services took it all to heart and are going to help us make the sandpit work better. Wonderful, since it looks like it's going to be a busy summer.