Schools seek funding for ‘destination’ slide at Luce

The School Committee has submitted an application to the Canton Community Preservation Committee (CCPC) to fund the purchase of one or two slides that would connect the upper property of the Luce Elementary School to the lower athletic fields.

The slide pictured above is one of several designs that school officials are considering for the Luce School.

The formal name of the project is “The SHINE Slide: A Fun Solution That Creates Access and Keeps Students Safe.” SHINE is an acronym that reflects the school’s vision and expectations for all students: Safety, Help others, Include each other, Never give up, and Encourage excellence.

If recommended by the CCPC and approved at the May 2019 town meeting, the project would be built this summer-fall in conjunction with a recently awarded state erosion control grant, which provides for a pedestrian stairway. The grant will also fund several other erosion control projects throughout the town.

The Paul R. Matthews Foundation and Luce CAPT are ready to commit nearly $2,000 toward the slide project, cutting the estimated cost to $35,000.

On the design boards for nearly a decade, the project was proposed to the School Committee by Luce Principal Robie Peter and the Luce CAPT. It also has the full support of the town’s Playground and Recreation Commission.

According to the application, the project fulfils one of the general goals for recreation in the 2017 Community Preservation Plan Update to create a “destination playground.”

The project goals include access to and use of a major recreational area and open space at the Billy Cravens Field for all Canton families, including a recently installed playground that was paid for with privately raised funds.

According to the application, the project will enhance state-funded plans to build stairs into the hillside, increasing safe access in times of emergency and making better use of the space. The slide would also create a unique recreational feature for the town that would be “on par with other celebrated large and long slides installed in the region …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 22 2018. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.