Fort St. John conducts ‘innovative consultation’ with children before approving new playground equipment

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John’s city council used an “innovative consultation” with elementary school children to narrow down more than $250,000 in playground equipment upgrades for Surerus Park.

During the January 12th meeting of the City of Fort St. John Council, the councillors approved a contract for Calgary-based playground company Play Envy to supply $253,461.45 in playground equipment for the new Surerus Park playground. Taxes are not included in this quote, however staff noted freight was included. 

Upgrades to Surerus Park were first approved by the council in November 2025, with a new pavilion expected to cost approximately $1.9 million.

The work is estimated to be completed in June 2026, and council was made aware at the time the park’s playground would be impacted by the new structure. 

According to staff, the playground equipment was considered “legacy” and “no longer met playground standards.” As a result, it was removed to allow for the construction of the pavilion, with a new playground planned for north of the new structure.

Staff specified the award to Play Envy was only for the equipment itself, and the equipment would be installed under a separate contract which would include sub-base gravels, concrete border installation, rubber play surfaces and access pathways. 

The council specified a budget of $350,000, and received 16 proposals from eight companies. Of those, staff narrowed the choices down to four which met the city’s requirements and “were well suited for the northern climate and overall Surerus Park layout.”

According to the January staff report submitted to council, an “innovative consultation” was completed with school children to “ensure the design chosen reflects the wishes of the actual users.”

When asked by council to elaborate, Jeremy Garner, the city’s director of public works and utilities, explained Urban Systems took the designs to Anne Roberts Young Elementary School and Robert Ogilvie Elementary School.

There, the company used stickers and pictures to gauge students’ interest in specific playground equipment and layouts. 

“Our staff and Urban Systems staff went to the schools, we put up the designs on the wall, students were given a certain number of stickers and were allowed to go around and put their stickers on the stuff they thought was cool,” Garner said. 

“It was really innovative and engaged the students, they had a lot of fun, [and] the feedback we got was really clear for us to deal with.”

According to staff, final drawings and documents will be completed by March 2026, with construction starting in June. Construction is expected to be finalized in August, with the park reopening in September 2026.