VICTORIA -- The City of Nanaimo will reopen its municipal playgrounds to families starting Wednesday, June 3.
"With the warmer weather and longer days it is nice to be able to open the playgrounds for the children of our community," said Art Groot, director of facility and parks operations for the city.
While playgrounds are reopening, residents are asked to continue to follow provincial health guidelines, like physical distancing and regular hand washing.
The city also asks that people refrain from visiting playgrounds if they are feeling at all unwell and to not share, toys, food or other personal items.
If a playground is busy, community members are asked to consider returning to the playground at a different time.
Nanaimo first closed all indoor and outdoor recreational facilities on March 16 due to COVID-19. Since then, outdoor facilities – like tennis courts, pickleball courts, bike parks and gated off-leash dog parks – reopened on May 14.
Indoor facilities in Nanaimo, like recreation centres and arenas, remain closed at this time.
The city notes that the Maffeo Sutton playground also remains closed as it receives an equipment retrofit.
Meanwhile, the municipalities of North Cowichan and Sooke have already reopened their playgrounds to the public.
In Saanich and Victoria, officials are holding off on opening up their facilities until further protocols are finalized.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says that the city is waiting for a staff report that will be presented on June 11 that outlines playground reopening plans.
After that, playgrounds could reopen shortly after.
"We've been listening very closely to the advice of Dr. Bonnie Henry," said Helps.
"It's summertime and kids love to play so I think if we could get that caution tape down and get kids back out on playgrounds in a way that is going to be safe, let's do it," she said. "But we’ll wait for the staff report."
