Safe and kid-approved, the Duncan Keith Adventure Playground officially opens at OSNS

KinderPlace Preschool at the OSNS Child Development Centre has a safer, prettier and more usable playground today through a partnership with National Hockey League star Duncan Keith and his eight-year-old charity "Keith Relief."

Keith, who grew up in Penticton and maintains a home in the area to this day, was on hand Wednesday afternoon for the official grand opening of the facility, dubbed the Duncan Keith Adventure Playground. And surrounded by kids - and parents - the highly decorated athlete was all smiles.

"It's not about me," he said in typical hockey player fashion. "It's about the kids who benefit from this. And the credit should go to Manisha (Manisha Willms, OSNS executive director) and OSNS and the work they do on a daily basis for these children. I'm just happy to be able to provide support."

Keith said he has a personal connection with OSNS. "Colton (Keith's son) came to this school, and we talked with Manisha, and I just felt like the way they're developing children, I think it's a very high-end way of doing it. The staff that they have here, the facility, and now with Keith Relief able to provide some of this stuff, I think it's just a great partnership."

The playground renewal project, said Willms later, was desperately needed.

"It was a playground that was fine when it was built 23 years ago. But it wasn't fine anymore. We support a lot of kids at the centre who struggle with everyday skills. So, if you're a three-year-old and you're trying to walk and it doesn't come naturally to you, and you have to practice with your physiotherapist and everyone else your age can walk, and you fall on a hard surface that really hurts you, trying to get that child motivated to try again is really difficult."

That "hard surface," said OSNS community relations representative Meg Dimma, is now a thing of the past.

"Things got underway in March to revitalize the existing playground. What we dealt with mostly was the ground. It was pavement before, and this is now all a rubberized surface. So this surface is actually really, really wonderful for safety, for playing, for learning, and for growth."

Willms added that the entire playground now sits on top of a "six to eight-inch layer of foam," buried under the surface. Other improvements include a rubberized bicycle track that encircles the entire facility, several new natural wood play elements, and a generous allotment of artificial turf.

The playground project is the second phase of an agreement that will see Keith Relief contribute $50,000 per annum for three consecutive years to OSNS. And, said Willms, Keith's "gift" went even further due to an additional arrangement with Wildstone Construction.

"A large part of the cost was the construction associated with getting the grades and the inclines that we needed. So Mark Melissen of Wildstone has taken an interest in us, and he's helped make all the money we received from Duncan go that much further because of the donation we also got from Wildstone."