The plans for the TMSS Playscape Project. (Submitted/Carmen Messer)

By Cam Lee

TMSS playscape project

TMSS fundraising for Playscape Project

Jan 12, 2024 | 12:35 PM

Tisdale Middle & Secondary School (TMSS) is once again fundraising for its Playscape Project.

They are accepting donations for their online auction Mar. 1, and donations can be dropped off at the school.

Principal Carmen Messer told northeastNOW the school is re-doing the entire outdoor play area, a project that began several years ago. The COVID pandemic has delayed the project but Messer said they’re hoping to get things back on track.

Students, staff, and community members were surveyed before the project began, and they were asked how they would like the space to be used.

The most popular option was to put a track around the football field. Messer said there isn’t enough physical room as a road that is too close to the space, so phase one of the project is the construction of an outdoor amphitheatre.

ARSON

Two charged with setting fires in northern Sask.

6h ago

wildfire response

No damage after Pisew fire advancement leads to early morning emergency alert

7h ago

Last Seen June 1

RCMP asking for help to find missing teen Keegan Prosper

7h ago

“We started that this fall, where we had a local excavating company bring in soil, and we started that process,” Messer explained.

Before COVID, the amphitheatre’s estimated cost was $80,000, but Messer said it’s more likely around $120,000 now.

A TMSS social media update has said they have reached 60 per cent of the fundraising goal for phase one of the project, with Chupa Trucking and Excavating providing $30,000 worth of work in-kind toward phase one. Messer said they have also received a $25,000 grant from CN Rail, Beeland Co-op donated $10,000, and last year’s over $10,000 was made in last year’s auction.

A local quilter, Chris Keays, has made a Tornado quilt in the school colours, and the school will be auctioning it off this spring.

Future phases include the construction of a learning circle, community trails, natural log and rock climber, a community garden, and a front entrance update.

Messer said the trails will go around the perimeter of the playscape and will connect the Kinsmen skate park to the Kinsmen Doghide Trails. The green space will be in between them. Following that, a new sidewalk will be constructed around the school, and the outdoor basketball courts will be updated.

The climbing apparatus isn’t the traditional playground type of structure, and Messer said that’s because there are several traditional ones in the area. The proposed log and rock climber are similar to those found at Wanuskewin in Saskatoon and more catered to cooperative play.

“A huge part of our vision is that this is supposed to be a community space. We don’t want it just to be like a school grounds,” Messer explained.

The area itself is a large greenspace, but Messer said there are many nights in the middle of summer when it’s not being utilized at all.

“Our goal is to get our community out and using this space and making it more welcoming,” Messer said.

The total cost of the entire project is estimated at $750,000. Donor levels range from Ally at $500 to $1000, all the way to Legacy donors that donate $50,000 or more. Donors will eventually be honoured on a Donor Wall that will be constructed either inside or outside the school.

(Submitted/Carmen Messer)

Community members interested in joining the committee can contact Carmen at the school, and she said they are always looking for any kind of help. She said the community has been very supportive of the project, and most agree that the greenspace has been underutilized.

Messer said the committee’s goal is to have the amphitheatre completed in 2025, with the entire project wrapping up sometime around 2028.

—

cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com