Woodcote Community Park Playground Upgrade Built with 1,057 Recycled Tires
The City of Courtenay‘s newly upgraded Woodcote Community Park playground is helping create a more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming place for children and families. Supported through the 2025 TSBC Community Grant Program, the project demonstrates how recycled tire materials can be transformed into community assets that benefit residents for years to come.
Located at 1281 17th Street in Courtenay, Woodcote Park serves approximately 28,000 residents and welcomes visitors from across the Comox Valley. In addition, the park sits near elementary schools, an Indigenous friendship centre, low-income housing, and a busy sports field. As a result, it serves as an important gathering place for children, families, and community groups.
Building a Playground for Everyone
The City of Courtenay guided the playground replacement and upgrade using its Park Playground Design Standards (PPDS). The City developed these standards through extensive community engagement. Throughout the process, residents emphasized the importance of accessible and inclusive playgrounds for children of all abilities.
To support this goal, the City incorporated the Rick Hansen Foundation’s Seven Principles of Universal Design into the project. The design helps children with a wide range of physical abilities participate in play. Additionally, the project incorporates accessibility features throughout the site, including pathways, access routes, and carefully designed grades.
The upgraded playground features:
- Ground-level play components accessible to all users
- Elevated play features accessible by ramps or transfer platforms
- Accessible pathways and routes connecting play areas
- Design elements that support children with mobility challenges
- Inclusive spaces for families and caregivers
Turning Recycled Tires into Safer Play Spaces
A key feature of the project is its poured-in-place recycled rubber surfacing, which received funding through the TSBC Community Grant Program.
Related: 35 Years of Tire Recycling in BC: From Waste to Resource
This durable, shock-absorbing surface uses recycled tire rubber and helps reduce injuries from falls. At the same time, it improves accessibility for playground users. Unlike loose-fill surfacing materials, poured-in-place rubber creates a seamless surface that allows easier movement for wheelchairs, mobility devices, strollers, and caregivers.
Also, the surfacing meets recognized impact attenuation safety standards. Its resilient design also provides a long-lasting solution that requires less maintenance over time.
Giving Tires a Second Life
The Woodcote Community Park project highlights the value of recycling and the many uses for scrap tires after they reach the end of their life on the road.
The playground surfacing contains material derived from BC recycled tires. The project diverts valuable materials from the waste stream while supporting an important community amenity. Through projects like this, TSBC demonstrates how recycled tire rubber can create environmental, social, and economic benefits.
In 2025, TSBC awarded funding through its TSBC Community Grant Program to help support the installation of recycled rubber made from 1,057 BC tires. Those tires now contribute to a safer, more accessible, and more inclusive play space for the community.
Community Benefits That Extend Beyond the Playground
As a community park serving residents from Courtenay and neighbouring communities, Woodcote Park plays an important role in bringing people together. Families visiting the nearby soccer field, students from surrounding schools, and children from across the neighbourhood now have access to an upgraded playground designed to be enjoyed by everyone.
By combining accessibility, safety, sustainability, and innovative use of recycled materials, the Woodcote Community Park Playground Replacement and Upgrade is an excellent example of how community investment can create lasting benefits.
TSBC is proud to support projects like this that transform recycled tires into meaningful community infrastructure. By giving recycled materials a second life, these projects help create safer, more inclusive spaces for BC residents of all ages and abilities.
If you have tires to recycle, be sure to bring them to a tire recycling location in your area so they can be turned into new community spaces like this one. Click on the image below to find a tire recycling location near you.
