Staff and parents involved in the 14-year-old kindergarten, on Robertson St, were grateful for the $20,000 granted from the Awakoura Awards by the Central Otago Kindergarten Association, plus $6000 from the First Sovereign Trust and $5500 from the Community Trust of Southland, towards the matting.
The grants bolstered the $11,000 raised from the kindy's "auction of promises" of everything from baking to jet-boat rides, in August.
About $7000 was put towards the matting, with the balance deposited into a reserve account for extra resources, Mrs Wild said.
The chequered matting installed last week was safer and cleaner than the previous wood chip layer, which needed to be topped up every year at a cost of $1000, she said.
The kindy also appreciated the $3000 from Skycity Queenstown Casino for the blinds, installed over the holidays, which replaced the 10-year-old ripped and worn curtains.
Frankton Kindergarten employs four full-time teachers, three part-time teachers and one part-time administrator and they look after 85 children, aged between 3 and 5 years.
It has a waiting list of 87 children aged 2 and over.
Two and a-half years ago there were only places for 45 children, with three teachers, Mrs Wild said.
"I think there needs to be another kindergarten in the Queenstown area.
"Roll-size numbers, we could go up another five in the afternoon, but we don't want to get any higher than that because the large group size isn't the best for the children," Mrs Wild said.
