The Borst Park Playground will be updated and renovated with new equipment and structures if the city of Centralia receives grant funding from the state.
At the Centralia City Council’s Tuesday night meeting, held virtually, the council approved consideration of the Borst Park Playground Project which will focus on the needs of younger children and be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant and inclusive, said Community Development Director, Emil Pierson.
“This is a project we have been working on for a number of years, well over three years actually,” Pierson said. “About two years ago I had an opportunity to sit down with Councilor (Peter) Abbarno as well as a resident that discussed some of the issues they saw within our parks system and that was making our parks ADA accessible as well as inclusive. We said ‘hey let’s really focus on how to make our parks accessible to everyone’.”
Pierson explained that the city had applied for two $100,000 grants to complete the project and only received one of them. While the city was considering other options, the playground equipment company the city had been working with, Allplay Systems, announced a sale on equipment due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The discount on the playground equipment totaled about 70 percent off the original price.
The city jumped at the opportunity to purchase the playground equipment at the discounted rate, for 98,047.97. The total cost to complete the project is estimated to be about $106,000.
The city is estimating that the equipment will be installed and complete by July 13, which is when the state is planning on entering COVID-19 reopening phase 4 and playgrounds can be open, according to the city.
Abbarno said he met with individuals from organizations including Reliable Enterprises, Lewis County Autism Coalition, and the Special Olympics and discussed the need for more accessibility around the city.
“About five years ago it really was a passion of mine — when we are doing projects — whether it be streetscape or playground equipment, to take more consideration into the accessibility and inclusion of all of our residents and visitors especially those who have certain disabilities,” he said.
Pierson mentioned that the playground will feature a swing that will be accessible to those in a wheelchair and the playground equipment is expected to last about twenty years.
“We’re matching the exact same colors of the existing playground that is there so all of these things will go and tie in with the existing playground equipment we have there,” said Pierson.
