The city plans to install chess tables such as these in Minto Park.
Summer is still some way off, but imagine escaping the snow and the cold, sitting in a downtown park and playing a board game under the warmth of the sun.
Centretown residents who live close to Elgin Street’s Minto Park won’t have to wait so long to see this mid-winter daydream come true.
The Centretown Citizens Community Association has launched a project to install two permanent game tables in the park.
“People of all ages will be able to relax and appreciate nature while playing their favourite games,” says Georgia Lay, a CCCA member who’s overseeing the project.
Lay believes the tables will improve the aesthetics of the park.
Minto Park has no courts because it is a relatively small, passive recreational area. So game tables are the best form of entertainment for that sort of environment, she says.
Lay says the CCCA conducted a survey of homes surrounding the park and found out there was significant interest in the project.
The tables will be especially attractive to seniors because the park will become a place where they can meet other people and escape from the isolation of their homes, says Patricia Marsden-Dole, chair of the CCCA seniors committee.
“We think the tables will definitely improve their social life,” she says.
The CCCA hopes to get the tables installed by the end of the summer.
A designer for the tables has yet to be identified. But Lay says the basics are pretty much decided.
The tables will be made of a resistant material to withstand the cold of the winter months. A chess board will be installed on the top part, and each of them will accommodate two people. However, Lay says the goal is to make them as versatile as possible. She foresees people using them for other board games, such as Monopoly, as well as for picnics.
The total cost of the tables will be about $8,000, says Lay.
The CCCA hopes to get most of the funding from the City of Ottawa’s community partnership minor capital program.
Through this program, the city funds 50 per cent of the cost of minor projects such as this one.
The next date to apply for the program is in May.
In the meantime, the CCCA plans to start a fundraising campaign and will also be accepting donations.
Similar tables can already be found in Clare Gardens Park.
They were installed last May as part of a project to refurbish the park in the Westboro area.
“The tables have brought life back to the park. Now it’s seen as the place to go,” says Deborah Chapman, a community organizer with the Westboro Community.