About the Playground Project
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The Waskasoo Gardens Playground Project responded to over two years of research and community engagement. Needs assessments revealed that Waskasoo lacked locations that enhanced sense of place and instigated formal and informal gathering. Research also revealed that our demographics were shifting toward young families and that there were no nearby "tot lots." It was a tall order, but the Waskasoo Community Association responded by renovating Waskasoo's 75-year-old playground into a one-of-a-kind park that kindles sense-of-place, brings people of all ages and abilities together, and provides needed amenities for young families.
Our park renovation started in 2015 with the community gardens and food forest, followed by the Waskasoo gazebo in 2020. The final phase, the natural playground, was completed in 2024. The new playground tripled the size of the play area, added features for accessibility, and includes a sand area with a buried bison skeleton, a set of baby swings, and a bespoke play sculpture depicting the rising head of a proud elk that the community has lovingly named Wapiti. His stylized antlers are made from robinia posts, and his head is clad in Alaskan yellow cedar and a flexform rubber panel for sliding, climbing, and bouncing. Wapiti's interior is wheel-chair accessible and houses a bench.
Of course, a natural playground also needs nature! We added a grassy berm and low-maintenance borders with blue spruce, juniper, saskatoons, plum, apple, and cherry trees, perennial grasses, and boulders--all intended to be part of the playscape. The berm can be used for games, rolling, and sliding and for amphitheater seating for the playfield and community movie nights, and the borders provide interactions with nature and wildlife, not to mention cherries, plums and apples for snacks :)
Sense of place is kindled by the park’s “Prairie to Parkland” theme inspired by the pre-settlement condition of the land. The meandering path represents the winding Red Deer River that separates the southern grassy plains, represented by the field and berm, from the northern wooded parklands, represented by the trees, borders, elk, and bison. The elk has a particular local significance since this area was once home to large herds of elk that brought many First Nations and Métis to the area. The word "waskasoo," in fact, is derived from the Nêhiyaw-Askiy word for “elk.” Of course, many indigenous and métis peoples were also drawn to the area to hunt bison, a history evoked by the carved bison bones which were also inspired by a 10,000-year-old bison tibia unearthed in the community in the 1970s.
Playground Build
Playground Build Automatic Slide Show
Click on the logos below to learn more about the Waskasoo Natural Playground's amazing sponsors:
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Gazebo Build
Gardens Build
Games and Activities
History of the Waskasoo Playground
The Waskasoo Playground was established in 1952 and the first playground equipment was donated by the Kinsmen Club of Red Deer.
An aerial photograph shows the Waskasoo neighbourhood in 1948 when the A-20 Army Camp houses were being constructed. The playground area can be seen at centre left with all the little white structures on it. The buildings across the street from it were the A-20 Army camp service buildings.
An aerial image from 1956 shows the ball diamond and basketball hoop on the west end and a small shelter and the play equipment on the east side.
Red Deer Advocate photo from 1960. The Waskasoo Playground won the inter-city playground track and field trophy for four consecutive years.
Wonderland Kindergarten in the playground in 1967. The kindergarten was south on 45th avenue.
