The District of Kent didn’t get the grant it wanted for its Centennial Park trail and fitness circuit, but that doesn’t mean the project is completely off the table.
According to director of community services and projects Jennifer Thornton, the project was put forward to the BC Rural Dividend grant as a $171,000 project that would bring a new trail around the park, more fitness equipment and services like blackberry removal as part of the Centennial Park Master Plan.
The creation of the master plan had actually been funded by the BC Rural Dividend grant in 2017, but the 2019 project “did not fit within the scope of the program,” a letter from the grant program read.
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It’s possible the district could go on with the project anyways — using district staff and in-house labour would remove some of the costs that were included in the grant application — but that will be up to council to decide at a future council meeting.
The district had already received $25,000 for new fitness equipment from the New Horizons for Seniors program.
“So the idea was … together they were going to create this awesome outdoor fitness circuit,” Thornton said.
The district will still be using the $25,000 in funding to add some more equipment around the three existing pieces at the park, although it won’t be as elaborate as had been imagined.
The district has already started to remove some of the blackberry bushes without the grant.
“We decided we were just going to get a head start on that over the winter,” Thornton said. “We’ve been kind of chipping away at it ourselves.”
The rest of the upgrades will have to be brought forward to council for discussion, Thornton said.
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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