ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – Children in Escanaba will soon have new ways to play thanks to a city-wide playground update.
The Department of Public Works and Sinclair Recreation have been hard at work installing new playground equipment at five local parks.
“We started at Rose Park last Tuesday and Wednesday, then we moved to Royce Park on Wednesday and Thursday, then Veteran’s Park on Thursday and Friday,” said Public Works Director Kent DuBord. “The Sinclair crew assembled Stephenson Park on Saturday. The crew currently is getting the holes dug at Sylvan Point Park with plans to get Sylvan Point Park assembled today.”
While the playgrounds share similar features, each one has a unique design crafted by Sinclair.
“This playground right behind us is actually my favorite design out of all of them,” DuBord said of the playground at Veteran’s Park. “With the triple slide, it gives kids the chance to race against each other coming down the slides. I tried to figure out what would be best suited to bring a playground to each park a little bit better than what was there before.”
The project originally came about after a playground inspection found ADA accessibility deficiencies and much-needed equipment repairs.
“Most of the issues were with the railings, the steps deteriorating, plastic issues with some of the slides cracking, and just being 20 – 30 years old,” DuBord explained. “There’s a lot of different variables that the playground inspector takes into place, with kids’ safety being the number one priority.”
Thanks to grants from local organizations and City funding, it became much more than just an update.
“DTE and the [Community] Foundation paid for the vast majority of Rose Park,” said DuBord. “The Kiwanis donated for an expression swing at West Side Park that will get installed here in a couple weeks. GameTime and the Rotary contributed a large sum toward the park that’s getting installed at Sylvan Point. A little over $200,000 in grant contributions and then probably about $135,000 on the City’s contribution.”
After the installation of the final playground, crews will begin restoring mulch beds and pouring concrete. DuBord’s goal is to get kids back on the playgrounds this weekend.
“I hope this gets kids outside more and off their phones and tablets and off the video games,” he said. “It’s such a short period of the year that we have time to play outside, so I hope this encourages kids to play outside more and enjoy these new playgrounds.”
To see the designs of the new playgrounds, visit the Sinclair Recreation LLC Facebook page.
