Municipality Celebrates New Buckhorn Playground

MEDIA RELEASE

April 5, 2024 [TRENT LAKES, ON] – On Thursday morning, MPP Dave Smith was at the Ode’Naang Park in Buckhorn to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the park’s new playground area. MPP Smith spoke to the impact that a $75,000 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) has had in making this initiative come together. This is the first public playground in Buckhorn, located on the largest and busiest park in Trent Lakes.

“Playgrounds are an experience of endless opportunity for the development of physical, emotional, cognitive and social skills for children,” said Dave Smith, Member of Provincial Parliament for Peterborough-Kawartha. “I can’t thank the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the provincial government enough for providing funding towards this new playground, the first of its kind in the area. This will be an attraction for not only members of the community but for those visiting our beautiful Trent Lakes area,” MPP Smith added.

Awarded in 2022, this OTF grant was used to help with the costs needed to renovate the Ode’Naang’s outdoor playground, providing local children and their families with a safe and accessible play space in which to have fun. The Municipality was able to purchase and install the equipment thanks to the grant from OTF, in addition to the Federal Development of Canada’s Canada Community Revitalization Fund’s grant of $56,250.

“Congratulations to the Municipality of Trent Lakes on the official opening of its playground at Ode’Naang Park in Buckhorn,” said The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario). “The one-of-a-kind space that you have built is a great place for youth of all abilities and their families to enjoy for years to come. The Government of Canada is thrilled to support projects that build communities and gives children a place to stay active.”

The park is along the water near Lock 31 of the Trent Severn Waterway, filling the park with residents and tourists in the summer. The historical landmark is known as one of the busiest locks along the waterway, seeing as many as 150,000 boats pass through each year, according to a report by Global News in 2023.

The new playground equipment includes multiple slides, a scavenger hunt, a climbing wall, a miniature race car track, monkey bars, an accessible ramp and more. The playground equipment joins an array of benches, picnic tables, portable toilets and a kayak stand already in the park.

“The construction of this new playground will provide a prime recreational opportunity in the heart of Buckhorn for children and families both living in and visiting the area,” said Dylan Cosh, Director of Recreation and Facilities for the Municipality of Trent Lakes. “Its proximity to local shopping and dining positions it to be a highly used asset for the community.”

The playground is in compliance with AODA, Design of Public Spaces Standard for outdoor play spaces and was built in 2023. The land officially became a park in 2018 owned by the municipality.

“Non-profit organizations across Ontario deliver programming that makes a difference,” said Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. “That’s why funding that my ministry is providing through the OTF is so important. Our government wants to ensure that these programs and spaces remain the heart of communities across our province.”

The Ontario Trillium Foundation’s (OTF) mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, last year, OTF invested over $110M into 1,022 community projects and partnerships. Visit otf.ca to learn more.

This project received Government of Canada support through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).