Finishing touches are being put on Canada’s first ever dementia-inclusive park ahead of its September opening. The Martin Family Legacy Garden has been under construction southeast Calgary for years. The project lead says its distinctive features should make it a big hit. “It’s very tangible and very legible and very meaningful in appearance for folks who maybe don’t have the cognitive capacity to navigate themselves through other public spaces,” Joe Rau with the Parks Foundation Calgary said. “[There’s] continuous handrails to support folks while they’re walking through the park, and colour coordination between the handrails and the ground markings.” The space itself is made up on three colour-coded loops, so those using the park can wander without getting lost. There is also plenty of shaded seating areas, extensive greenery, wayfinding features, sensory elements and even a playground for families and caregivers. It’s all publicly accessible, connecting with the city’s pathway system and close to a care home and the Forest Lawn seniors’ centre. “It is meant to be for multi-generations and for all to enjoy,” Parks Foundation Calgary CEO Cynthia Watson added. “We’ve put in a number of universal design features so that people of all ages and abilities can enjoy this.” The space was designed with help from health-care professionals and community advocates. “We worked with people like Alzheimer’s Calgary and with researchers who specialize in dementia at Mount Royal University and the University of Calgary,” Watson said. “It was also really important to engage people with lived experience and have that all inform the design of what you see.” The park’s $5 million in funding came from private and public donors, and it’ll be added to the city’s operations list when it opens. There are currently about 20,000 Calgarians living with dementia, and the foundation is not ruling out another park in the city “sooner rather than later.” The Martin Family Legacy Garden will officially open to the public on Sept. 21, coinciding with World Alzheimer’s Day.
