Eastside Park to get new playground

BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

The old equipment at Eastside Park will soon be replaced by new molded plastic equipment that is ADA compliant. Mid-Atlantic Park and Playground Concepts will remove the 40-year-old equipment and install the new, larger playground. RED BANK - The Eastside Park playground, which has not been improved for 40 years, is slated to be replaced in time for the summer.

Bob Evans, borough Parks and Recreation director, presented a plan to the Borough Council recently to install new molded plastic playground equipment to replace the splintering wood equipment that currently exists at the park.

Located on Harrison Avenue and Mechanic Street, Eastside Park has a regulation baseball field and a playground area with swings and slides.

"We chose to work on Eastside Park," he said at the council's March 27 meeting, "because other parks have had work done. There are improvements happening at Count Basie Park right now, and at Marine Park."

Evans said the baseball field at Eastside Park has been regraded, but that a new fence for the park is not yet part of the scheduled improvements.

"Currently, all of the borough's playgrounds do not meet ADA codes or consumer product safety codes," said Evans. "We've received a number of complaints about the current play area. The current equipment is wooden and splintering, and has caused some problems out there."

Evans said that all of the new equipment will meet ADA standards, as well as consumer product safety codes.

If approved by the council, the new equipment will come from Mid-Atlantic Park and Playground Concepts, Tunkhannock, Pa., at a cost of $22,000, which will cover only the cost of the equipment.

"A couple of different companies offered us designs," said Evans, "but Mid-Atlantic met our needs the best."

According to Evans, two quotes were received, including one from Mid-Atlantic, for the installation of the new play equipment.

"Our Public Works Department," said Evans, "would pull out the existing equipment."

Mid-Atlantic's quote for installation was $8,650, the lower of the two quotes received.

That makes the total cost of the project $30,650, and borough Chief Financial Officer Terence Whalen said there is $75,000 available in the budget for the project from a county grant dedicated to park improvements.

The molded plastic pieces of the play area, according to Bill Givens, a representative from Mid-Atlantic, would be under warranty for 15 years, and that the post and clamp system that holds the equipment together has a lifetime warranty.

Evans said that although there will still be only four swings with the new equipment, the same number currently at the park, the actual play area will be larger.

With the council's approval, Mid-Atlantic can get the project started right away. Evans said he expects it to be completed by the middle of May.

Evans said that additional renovations are in the works for both Count Basie Park and Marine Park.