Folks in the Ashley Park area are striving towards renovating a green space into a community focal point. The Ashley Park Community Corner Project is being led by locals living near the former Ashley Park School and park space. They are trying to raise funds to transform the corner lot located at the corner of Seventh Avenue Northeast and Connaught Drive. Currently, this is a green space across from the Swift Current Creek and the Chinook Pathway. Ron Caswell, board chair for the Ahsley Park Community Corner Project, believes it will be better utilized as both a basketball court and a play park. "We're looking at two phases," said Caswell. "The first phase would be the basketball court, and then down the road in a year or two, we're hoping to raise enough funds to get the playground going." The basketball court will cost an estimated $30,000 - $35,000, while the play park was estimated to cost $135,000 five years ago. Caswell is aware that prices will have gone up, but would like to see that initial estimate fundraised before they try to go about asking for even more money. "We're kind of targeting that for our goal, and we'll see where that will put us," said Caswell. "We'll see what we can get for that amount of money." The City of Swift Current has given the go-ahead to fundraising for this project. The plans even include an addition to the Chinook Pathway where it would connect to the park, should the project get off the ground. Originally, Caswell and his associates wanted to build this community space at the site of the former Ashley Park Hall. "We're really looking for a place that we can call a community gathering spot," said Caswell. "Originally, we wanted that site to be where the community hall was; however, city council wants to keep that and the former school site available for residential development." So far, the group has received funding from groups like Andy Keys and the Haunted Town of Lil Sur Mer. They donated a hefty $5,500 to the project, which is a start. "We're going to be looking at doing some 5050 fundraising," shared Caswell. "We've thought about all sorts of different avenues where we can raise some money." There has also been communication with Buckets and Borders out of Regina. An organization specializing in bringing basketball into communities, it has had success all across Canada. "I've been in contact with them and we hope to have them come down and have a look at our site and give us some ideas," he said. Caswell did bring up that certain members in the community have actually put together a petition to stop this project. "It seems that there's some misinformation being passed around that we're destroying the entire green space," said Caswell. "It's really only less than half of the area at that location that will not be green space anymore." With the river park space adjacent to the project, he believes there is more than enough existing green space. Anyone who would like to donate to this initiative can do so by e-transferring money to ashleypark.fundraising@sasktel.net. People looking to learn more can contact Caswell by calling 306-778-3378.