The Rotary Club of Prince Albert received a huge boost in their quest to raise funds for a new adventure park thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Co-op Community Spaces program on Monday.

Rotary Club president Keith Fonstad was on hand at Little Red River Park to accept the grant from Lake Country Co-op representatives.

The Rotary Club was one of 15 organizations in Western Canada to receive grant funding, and Fonstad said that will go a long way to getting the adventure park up and running.

“It’s just a big boost for our project,” he said following a short ceremony at Little Red. “We’re super excited that Lake Country Co-op is able to be here today to help announce it, work with us through the design and get shovels in the ground to build it next year.”

Lake Country Chief Financial Officer Brad Casavant presented the cheque to Fonstad and Mayor Greg Dionne on Monday. Casavant said local Co-ops are always looking for ways to make their communities better, and supporting organizations who are already doing good work makes the most sense.

“We can’t always do these things by ourselves, so it’s great to have community partners like the Rotary Club,” he said.

Funds from Monday’s donation will go towards the adventure park’s climbing tower. If all goes according to plan, construction will be in full swing in one year.

“We are doing some site visits and final designs right away here in the next couple of weeks,” Fonstad said. “Most of the park components are already to go, so we’re hoping to be able to do with the landscaping and whatnot and get that ready for shovels in the ground next spring, and ready to go next summer.”

Once completed, the Rotary Adventure Park will introduce youth ages eight to 14 to challenging outdoor activities that typically aren’t found in regular playgrounds.

The park is the Rotary Club’s centennial project.

Mayor Greg Dionne thanked the Rotary Club for spearheading the adventure park idea, and the Co-op for supporting their community.

“They’re a big part of our community and our family,” Dionne said. “They support us in all different kinds of needs, and they make big investments in our City, so I thank them for that.”