What used to be home to games of hide and seek, endless hours of fun and excitement for elementary school students (and the cause of several bumps and bruises) is now an empty, grassy piece of land, devoid of children’s laughter at Landing Trail Intermediate School (LTIS).
Dubbed by generations of wide-eyed, full-of-energy LTIS elementary students as “Tire Town”, the playground made entirely of used rubber tires was taken down in the middle of October due to safety concerns.
The concerns, determined through an annual safety audit done by the Aspen View Schools maintenance department, deemed that “Tire Town” needed to come down.
“In our annual safety audit of all the Aspen View schools’ playgrounds and equipment, the tire playground at LTIS had several identifiable safety issues that deemed it unsafe,” explained Dave Kwiatkowski, head of the maintenance department of Aspen View.
Although the playground’s time was eventually going to come, if those tires could speak, the stories and memories told would be endless.
“It was called ‘Tire Town’ by generations of kids who played on it. It was a very popular piece of equipment used by all of the students,” reminisced Brian LeMessurier, who knew the playground well from the 15 years he taught at LTIS.
Now the superintendent of the Aspen View School Division, LeMessurier remembers how popular “TireTtown” was among the many young elementary students over the hundreds of recesses it endured.
“The kids were inside those tires, on top of them and everywhere it was possible,” explained LeMessurier.
Built back in 1980 by a volunteer group of parents, the birth of the historic playground is a story all on its own.
“The parents put in the playground in the pouring rain. It was a deluge,” chuckled LeMessurier.
For 30 years, the tire playground was a regular spot for students to climb and play around on.
“The younger kids from Grades 2-4 played on it the most, but it was certainly not limited to them,” said LeMessurier.
“Tire Town” served LTIS students from its early days as an exclusive elementary school, to the Grade 4-7 school it is today. And although bumps and bruises were bound to happen, no severe injuries ever occurred.
“We had a few fat lips and bruises we had to attend to through the years, but nothing serious,” said LeMessurier.
“It’s sad that it had to go,” he added, “but everybody understands.”
