Parks commission plans new ‘tot lot’

(6/21) The Parks Commission met in June to discuss the ‘refreshment’ of the Community Park ‘tot lot’. The playground has been in existence for a long time with much of the equipment in dire need of replacement. Commissioner liaison Chris Ragen asked the Commission what existing equipment they wanted to see removed or replaced as well as what new equipment they would like to see added to the playground.

Ragen said the Commission has approximately $85,000 of Project Open Space funds at their disposal for the project. The POS funds include the installation cost of $22,732 with about $60,000 available for whatever equipment pieces the Commission chooses.

The previous Commission liaison sent a list of equipment out for an initial bid that included a unity rocker (a broad, saucer-shaped rocker), a home dome (a spherical structure made with an open design of interconnected pipes), an ADA accessible whirl (similar to a merry-go-round that is flush with the ground to allow wheelchair accessibility), a balance track (a set of beams and blocks for balance practice) and two kinds of sand digger; one with a normal seat and one with an ADA seat. It also included a six-bay swing set to replace the current broken set that according to Ragen, "is broken off at ground level."

Although Ragen suggested the green climbing wall be removed ‘because it is not used much’, the Commission agreed to keep the structure. He suggested removing the wooden exercise set, calling it ‘a relic from when they had exercise equipment along the trails’ and replacing the broken swing set with a ‘mommy and me’ swing (allows parent and child to swing together). He also suggested the train be cleaned and repainted.

Member Kevin Conley asked what equipment was damaged and would absolutely need to be removed. Director of Public Works Joseph Birch replied, "The swing set for sure," he said. "Some of the other stuff I mean, is old and it needs to go." This included the ancient merry go round which Member Shannon Kelley suggested be replaced as it is a favorite amongst the kids.

Kelley shared with the Commission a list of equipment kids interviewed at the park one day suggested be removed. They included the silver slide ‘because it gets hot in the summer’ and the wooden exercise stand because it has splinters. For requests the kids said they like the train and the sand diggers as well as the existing plastic slides. They wanted to see swings again and a better edge to the sandbox to keep the sand inside.

Kelley herself liked the diggers, unity rocker and the dome. She didn’t like the whirl and felt the balance track was boring. After perusing the playground catalog, she offered adventure tubes (aka crawl tubes), an aero glider (a platform that sways with room for wheelchairs and adults), a triple shootout game, and ‘fossil digs’ that are underneath the sand, allowing children to uncover them while digging.

Unfortunately, a poured in place base is not a possibility for the project as those can cost up to $90,000 which is well over the budget. The tot lot will have a mulch base instead.

The Commission will spend the next two months or so reviewing options for the playground before getting a final quote and voting hopefully in August.