It’s official: Bouchie Lake Elementary has won $100,000 for play space revitalization.
Over a four week period, British Columbians cast votes to decide originally which three of 10 community finalists would each receive a $100,000 play space revitalization. Votes from across the province determined a clear group of four front-runners, with less than three-quarters of one per cent of the total vote separating third and fourth place. After careful consideration to the closeness in votes and significant lead of the top four finalists, BCAA decided the right thing to do was to add a fourth winner to receive one of now four play space revitalizations, each worth up to $100,000. “We asked British Columbians to have their say and vote for their favourite play space project,” says Shawn Pettipas, BCAA’s Senior Manager of Community Impact. “After third-party verification of all votes, final totals showed four of the 10 communities in a clear lead. We didn’t expect these results but BCAA’s focus is to protect B.C. kids by giving them better places to play so we’ve found a way to deliver exciting new play spaces to children in all four communities.” The four $100,000 BCAA Play Here winners: BCAA Play Here and its partners will deliver four, $100,000 play space revitalizations to: • Bouchie Lake Elementary School, Quesnel • Galiano Community School, Galiano Island • Marion Schilling Elementary School, Kamloops • McKay Street Park, Prince Rupert The four winners are among hundreds of play space nominations from across B.C. Ten finalists were shortlisted by a panel of judges and then the province was asked to vote. The public cast over 425,000 votes to decide which of 10 finalists would receive $100,000 play space revitalizations. “We’ve been inspired by the passion of all our finalists and the display of support from our Members and British Columbians for their communities across the province,” Shom Sen, BCAA President & CEO said.
“We’re excited to make a big impact for children in the four communities chosen by British Columbians.” As part of the initiative, BCAA and play space specialists will work closely with each community on designs and plans for each project. BCAA will then deliver play spaces customized to suit the size and characteristics of the area and complement the surrounding environment. For local reaction see Wednesday’s Observer.