Maka Park opens in Regina’s east end, including accessible playground

Maka Park in Regina's east end officially opened this past weekend, after 2 years of construction. (Damian Smith/CTV News)

A new seven-acre plot of land will be a notable gathering spot in Regina’s Eastbrook neighbourhood.

On Sunday, Dream Developments held their grand opening for Maka Park, which includes an accessible playground. This playground is the first that falls under the city’s new accessibility policy.

“What you’ll see throughout this park is the soft rubber play area so that if they fall [kids], it absorbs the falls,” said Diana Hawryluk, Dream Developments general manager of land for Regina. “Some of the play features that you’ll see are accessible, such as the merry go round, people in wheelchairs are able to wheel right on to it and then go around with all of their friends.”

Other areas of accessibility for those in wheelchairs are adaptive swings with secure harnesses, as well as panels to support cognitive learning. Just north of the park is a multi-tiered pump track as well.

“We’ve tried to make it so that all of the features, both able bodied and people with challenges can utilize this park.”

For a park to be considered accessible, 50 per cent of the structures need to be accessible.

The land will also hold community gardens, which will be taken care of by the Arcola East Community Association (AECA). There will be 30-40 spots in the community gardens, according to the AECA.

The AECA serves 40,000-50,000 residents in Regina’s east end, according to President Yashu Bither.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth in the east end, not just in the residential, but for commercial parks like this one, it’s a great opportunity for us to be where the community really makes a lot of strong connections.”

Bither says a lot of young families with young children are moving to Regina’s east end, and residents have been asking for these community gardens.

According to Dream Developments, the creation of the park took a couple of years, with crews installing the pathways last year. Hawryluk says that the construction of Maka Park amounted to about $2.2 million.