The Wrangell assembly approved nearly $96-thousand for the new Angerman Park at a special meeting on October 19. The funds will buy equipment and fencing to upgrade the play area at the park.
The timing of the approval allowed materials to be purchased at up to a 35% discount, according to Parks and Recreation Director Lucy Robinson. But the work won’t be done until next year. In the spring, the newly formed Friends of Parks and Recreation nonprofit organization will engage contractors and get everything installed.
Here’s Robinson on the project.
I’m very excited about the excitement from the assembly, as well as the support from the community, to move forward and purchase equipment and get these playgrounds revitalized, safe and updated.
The new playground will include a large structure with slides and monkey bars rated for ages 5 to 12-years-old and a swing set with two regular swings, an infant swing, and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant swing.
The structure itself is nice because it has smaller steps for easy accessibility for tiny legs. And the landing pads, the ladders, and the slides, everything that they can play on, are things for all ages.
When it was announced this summer that the playground equipment at City Park had been removed, some residents expressed concerns on the community Facebook group about losing the fenced-in play area. Robinson says they took those concerns into account in the Angerman Park redesign by completely fencing in the play area.
The new playground will also receive updated safety fall zones made of turf or pea gravel, according to Robinson, and they are looking to resurface the basketball court.
The installation will be one of the first projects taken on by the Friends of Parks and Recreation, which was formed after the borough’s advisory parks board was dissolved this past June. Robinson says the new group has applied for its nonprofit status and is just awaiting approval.
Borough Manager Mason Villarma says the nonprofit will fill necessary gaps in executing park projects.
We would definitely, as a city, still maintain and upkeep the park. But in terms of the actual installation, I think is where we fall short.
He says he hopes that the group will take the lead on engaging contractors on a volunteer basis to get the work done.
