Two Castlegar organizations have received significant Columbia Basin Trust Recreation Infrastructure Grants.
The Castlegar Nordic Ski Club will be receiving $12,000 and the Twin Rivers Elementary Parent Advisory Council on behalf of School District 20 will be receiving $50,000.
Playground for Castlegar Primary
The Twin Rivers PAC has been working on raising money for a new playground at the Castlegar Primary Campus since 2016.
The group partnered with the Castlegar Early Childhood Advisory Council to come up with a design for the new playground.
Students at the school are in kindergarten through grade two, but the playground design is made to be suitable for children 18 months to seven years old.
“We were hoping to get a design that was good for younger learners and younger people in our community,” said Twin Rivers PAC president Catherine Zaitsoff.
The total cost of the playground is about $185,000. The CBT grant brings the amount raised up to about half of the needed amount.
The group is hoping for a July installation, so they are actively pursuing more grants, corporate donations and individual donations.
“We are so grateful to CBT and our own school community and the greater community for supporting us …” added Zaitsoff.
Anyone wishing to donate to the project is encouraged to contact the school directly.
Paulson Cross Country Trails
The Castlegar Nordic Ski Club will be using their grant money for trail improvements at the Paulson Cross Country Ski Trails located 32 kilometres west of Castlegar on the south side of the highway.
“We are really appreciative, we have had some contributions from the recreation infrastructure program for the last few years. It has allowed us to do a lot of upgrades to our infrastructure,” said Castlegar Nordic Ski Club director Al Skakun.
“They have allowed us to replace bridges, upgrade trails, build new trails and expand the parking lot … It has been a hugely valuable program for recreation groups and clubs like us.”
Upgrades will include widening of some existing trails, improving drainage and alteration of some grades to improve track setting and skiing. The work will be done in the late summer or early fall.
BC Timber Sales and Atco Wood Products are going to be working in the area this summer and have offered in-kind donations of machine time to the project.
The group is hoping to upgrade about 15 kilometres of trails.