Piece by Piece
Texas side begins replacing playground equipment at local parks; project to cost more than $434.5K
Work began Tuesday to replace playground equipment throughout Texarkana, Texas,— one parks project among several under way funded by the city’s new Capital Improvement Plan.
City workers took apart and hauled away the slides and swings at Ferguson Park to make way for new equipment from Dallas contractor Child’s Play Inc. Spring Lake Park and Grady T. Wallace Park are next on the schedule, followed by the remainder of the city’s parks.
The whole project, which should take about five weeks to complete, will get done at a cost topping $434,500.
“This was a priority for us that’s been part of the parks master plan for a long time,” said Robby Robertson, director of the Parks and
Wellness Department.
Maintaining the city’s playground equipment is increasingly difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Much of it is 25 to 30 years old and prone to breaking. Replacement parts often are unavailable, and when a part can be found, attaching it to current equipment is hard because the old sets have shifted and settled over the years.
The old equipment is unsuitable for reuse and will be disposed of. “We would have loved to donate it. We’ve had a lot of requests. But for safety reasons, we just can’t do it,” Robertson said. The CIP maps out more than 50 city projects through 2044 funded by debt such as municipal bonds. The Texas-side City Council on March 27 approved sale of $14.4 million in bonds to pay for the plan’s 14 projects in fiscal year 2017, as well as initial design work for three in FY2018.
This year, Parks and Wellness will use CIP funding to replace lights at some city park ballfields and dredge the Spring Lake Park lake. The department will also oversee roof replacements at various city buildings, including fire stations.
New lights are up at two Spring Lake Park fields, and replacements are coming to five fields at Wallace Park. The city is also replacing wooden light poles with metal poles anchored to concrete foundations, increasing safety and lowering maintenance expenses, Robertson said. Total cost is $973,750. In May, the city will spend more than $1 million to dredge the lake at Spring Lake Park for the first time in its history. The process will improve the lake as habitat for wildlife as well as beautify its appearance and help control aquatic plants.
“We’re also wanting to clean up the sides of (the lake). The sides are going to be secured with rock. It’s going to be easier to maintain for us. It’s going to be easier to have access to fish. I think Texarkana will really enjoy that it’s going to be safer to have recreational activities around,” Robertson said.
Other CIP projects for 2017 include reconstructing the parking lot at the Police Department’s Special Operations and Training Center, improving drainage at Walton Drive and Pavilion Parkway, and enhancing walkability around the downtown federal courthouse and post office.