Kimmirut kids get a second playground
Parents and children happy with how park turned out, says hamlet SAO
Kimmirut’s newest playground gives kids who live uptown somewhere to play closer to home. (Photo by David Venn)
This summer, kids in Kimmirut got a new playground to swing on.

This is the other playground in Kimmirut, located at Qaqqalik School. (Photo by David Venn)
It was a long time coming for the community, said hamlet senior administrative officer John Mabberi-Mudonyi.
“The parents are happy, the kids are quite excited,” he said, adding the children used to run up to him every other day to ask when the playground would be ready.
The hamlet wanted it installed in 2017, and even brought the equipment up around that time. However, construction got pushed back because the hamlet couldn’t decide where to build the playground.
The plan was to have it at the top of Kimmirut where the arena is, so residents uptown could have their kids play nearby.
“The only playground in town was at the school, so the children who lived by the arena area were being forced to come down here,” Mabberi-Mudonyi said in an interview.
“And some of them … they play late into the night.”

The Hamlet of Kimmirut originally looked to install the playground behind Tasilik Arena, but parents were concerned they wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on their kids from their homes. (Photo by David Venn)
The hamlet thought putting the playground behind the arena, at the edge of the town, would be a good idea. But parents were concerned they wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on their children from their homes, he said.
Then, the planning department settled on a location: Nearby the arena but closer to homes, where the playground is now installed.
“It’s much safer,” Mabberi-Mudonyi said.
Construction began last year and was completed in August.
He’s not sure of the final cost, but the hamlet received $40,000 from the territory’s Department of Community and Government Services gas tax fund to cover construction costs.
bubba like swing go up down