Brooklyn Center Residents See Upgrades to City Parks
- Some Brooklyn Center city playgrounds received significant improvements this summer.
- The grant-funded upgrades are meant to help with safety, accessibility and maintenance.
Power of Play
Play is powerful. You can see that in action as kids of all ages run around on Brooklyn Center playgrounds.
“It’s really important to have a safe and reliable resource, and so we want to continue to invest in those places so the current generation that is using them can enjoy them, and future generations as well,” said Kory Andersen Wagner, the city’s public works planner.
Andersen Wagner said one of the priorities this season was parks, especially after the city passed its Park Capital Investment Plan. The PCIP’s goals were established in May by the Brooklyn Center City Council. He said those goals are informed by community members’ requests.
“We heard that residents really wanted to continue improving our playgrounds. So we already had improved structures, so the next stage for us was ‘well, we can improve the surfaces.'” Andersen Wagner said.
At six city parks, the city installed new poured-in-place rubber surfacing on playground spaces, replacing wood chips.
Centennial, Bellvue, Firehouse, Lions, Northport and West Centennial parks all have a partial poured-in-place rubber surfacing. Andersen Wagner said if it isn’t entirely installed, all should be done by early summer.
The resurfacing cost $240,000 total with $100,000 coming from a Hennepin County grant. City funds covered the remaining $140,000.
One family climbs on the resurfaced playground in Centennial Park. Part of the space is still covered in wood chips.
‘It’s safer’
Anderson Wagner said these costs should pay off. It will cost less for maintenance compared to wood chips, and will be more accessible for kids who use wheelchairs.
“Poured-in-place surface has three key things that it does well for us. It reduces our maintenance cost, improves accessibility for kids and also improves safety,” Anderson Wagner listed.
On Tuesday morning at the park, kids played — and tested — the safety factor.
“It is easier for them to walk on,” said Amanda Amundson, who brought a few kids to the park. “When they fall, it’s safer.”
When Ladonna Malone’s kid took a tumble off the slide, she said the kid bounced right back.
“I actually like it. I said it’s better than the wood chips anyways, because you can get splinters and stuff from the wood chips. Yeah, I like it!” Malone said.
By living up to one of its goals, the playgrounds are giving kids at play a softer place to land.
Two kids play on playground equipment in Centennial Park. The poured-in-place surface was strategically placed under places where kids could fall or access equipment.
