Westmount Inclusive – Something Old, Something New

Located immediately behind a primary school in a quiet subdivision in Halifax’s West End, Westmount Inclusive (map) offers lots of green space, quiet traffic areas and the Halifax Shopping Centre within easy walking distance. This playground is a gem. There are plenty of rolling, wheeling, climbing and running challenges. Special features abound like the giant fire truck, musical instruments – drums, bells and big ball shaker noise makers – futuristic, low lying, gliding swings and a series of palatial towers connected by raised pathways, a Camelot for young hearts (photos).

These are elements of the new modernized playground officially opened in June, 2006 – the first of its kind in Canada. It was all made possible through community involvement, support from the province, municipality and donations from charitable organizations such as Ronald McDonald House. The Westmount School Naturalization Project documents the progress of the new playground from April through June 2006. There are some wonderful panoramic photos from the project posted on the school site.

The rubberized surfaces mean less chances of scrapes and bruises and a gentler landing when the small ones trip, loose their balance, or do a bump, bop, tumble and accidentally run into each other. One of the rubberized pathways is a runway in recognition of this space’s previous incarnation of as Halifax’s first municipal airport built in 1931. Noah does his airplane thing here running back and forth, arms outstretched, tilting first this way and then that before taking off into the bright blue.

The Westmount playgrounds make a lasting impression on children partially because of the variety of equipment that just isn’t found elsewhere (at least we’ve not found anything else quite like it yet though we did get a tip from a reader on a newly opened inclusive playground in Lower Sackville just last week – stay tuned). Another reason is that the new and the old co-exist. The older playground and water park have remained intact with circa 1990s equipment, just to the west and south of the new development. There is the standard corkscrew slide, the tunnel-tube and side-by-side double track slide, climbing apparatus and swings all with pebble gravel infill.

There are large tracts of green space, including a soccer field, adjacent to the playgrounds – lots of opportunities for ball games and obstacle-free running. A handful of benches are interspersed along the runway leading to the inclusive playground so parents can take a load off their feet. There is ample unmetered parking in the school lot accessed off of George Dauphinee Avenue and on Edward Arab Avenue which borders the park on is northwest boundary.

There is no bus that will bring you directly to Westmount Inclusive Playground. One option is to take a number 1, 2, 3, 9 or 58 bus and get of along the Halifax Shopping Centre service road. Enter the Westmount subdivision through Jack Ferguson Avenue on foot and turn left on Edward Arab Avenue and continue to the park. For detailed bus route information consult the Google-HRM Transit map.

This playground is worth a special trip for children of all abilities. It’s a place of discovery and with so much to do, from crazy percussion sessions to firefighting, you can be sure that the kids will get an excellent workout. Take a moment to come in for a landing at the Westmount Inclusive.

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