by Lexey Burns, Editor-in-Chief
Eric Chappell, President of the SGA says Laurentian students are struggling to find things to do right now.
His comments come after Laurentian University announced its new partnership with Kivi Park.
Kivi Park is a 450-acre, all-season park offering different activities like skating, skiing, hiking, and camping, located in Sudbury and a 16-minute drive from Laurentian.
Chappell said that they had initially heard about this partnership because Cambrian had come to a similar agreement with the park.
Chappell said that the SGA“had done some general inquiries but we saw the announcement from Cambrian and it gave us a good platform to start the conversation.”
The partnership is a step towards helping students with their well being as “being stuck inside is not good for anyone’s mental health.”
Chappell said that the SGA is looking for “any opportunities we can help enable to give our students chances to go out and get fresh air and have something to do, have anything to do.”
All students in the Sudbury area are encouraged to check out the park.
“It’s great for our resident students, but I think the benefit is universal.”
Chappell said that the exact cost of the partnership is confidential due to the “contract between us” but “the fee that this came out of was an optional fee.”
He explains how the cost was “different for every association.”
“It’s predominantly coming out of the SGA’s general operations and a little bit from the community events,” he said. “But every association has their fees slightly structured differently, so I can’t speak about the other ones.”
“Laurentian’s also contributing a portion and I don’t know the nuance of Laurentian’s budget.”
Despite the encouragement to use the park, the SGA is still working on a seemingly important obstacle. Kivi Park does not have it’s own bus stop, so it’s currently only accessible to students who have access to a car.
“We all know that not every student owns a vehicle,” Chappell said.
It’s still in the initial stages, he said, but explained how the SGA is communicating with residence in hopes to “find different ways to at least support that population of getting there.”
One idea that was mentioned is a shuttle from residence to the park.
“We’re looking for different creative ideas to help students.”
Because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Kivi Park does not offer rentals of equipment at this time. Their skating path, Nina’s Way, is also currently closed.
So what’s the difference between Kivi Park and the many lakes and trails that Laurentian’s campus offers?
“It’s a change in environment,” Chappel said.
“A majority of our walking trails have been shut down for cross country skiing on campus… Students have so little options right now and it’s great to say that we can give them one box to go walk in but is that really enough in the current environment? I think we need variety,” he said.
Chappel said the partnership ends in August and but doesn’t know if it will be renewed for the 2021/2022 school year.
*Photo credit to @kivipark on Instagram*