Hundreds of kids, parents and volunteers gathered in High Park Saturday to put the finishing touches on the rebuilt Jamie Bell Adventure Playground after it was destroyed by arson in March.

Armed with rakes, paint brushes and shovels, volunteers moved mulch and gave the castle-themed play structure a new coat of paint.

“It’s a beehive of activity. It’s like an ant farm,” Coun. Sarah Doucette, who represents the ward that includes High Park, told CP24. “We’ve got fantastic volunteers coming out.”

Also Saturday, the park will host a community picnic lunch and events for the entire family to enjoy, said Doucette.

The park itself was originally set to open to the public Saturday, but the extreme heat during the week meant that work crews had to take frequent breaks and the opening has now been pushed back until Tuesday.

The new playground, located near the east side of the park, will maintain many of the features of its predecessor.

Like the original park, which was built in 1998, the new playground has a castle theme. Also like the original, the playground will have features that were requested specifically by the children who use it.

Television handyman Mike Holmes led the reconstruction efforts, which kicked off in March.

During the initial groundbreaking ceremony, Holmes told CTV Toronto that when he started planning the new playground, he took his cues from the local kids.

“I want to make it a little bigger, with more slides,” he said. “We want to fix and give a little TLC to the rest of the park and add a lot of colourful features from the kids.”

When the park was destroyed, Coun. Doucette put out a few calls to various companies to see if they would be willing to donate funds and materials to help with the reconstruction efforts.

Both Lowe’s and Canadian Tire responded to Doucette’s calls and sponsored the project, as did other local businesses and charities.

Members of several city unions also lent their support, with donations of cash and labour.

Both Doucette and Holmes will be making official remarks at 5 p.m.

For a full listing of the day’s events check the Toronto Parks and Recreation website.