TIME TO PLAY
New playground opens at Cumberland Monastery
CUMBERLAND - the brand new Monastery playground opened Monday just in time for summer and the hoards of pint-size users waiting patiently over the past three months to try out the playground’s new equipment.
Several of those youngsters were on hand to help Cumberland Mayor jeffrey Mutter cut the ribbon at a grand opening ceremony for the new play space. Mutter was joined by members of the Cumberland Highway 'epartment, which demoed the old playground and helped prepare the site for the new facility and Meghan O’Brien, president of M.E O’Brien and Sons, Inc., the company hired by the town to design and construct the new playground.
We could not have done this project without the extremely hard work of our highway team, which transformed this space into something truly special,” Mutter said. “And Meghan O’Brien was able to take our vision for this play space and turn it into a reality. I can’t thank her enough for the time and effort she has put into making sure the space became a treasure to this community.”
The new facility is not only ADA compliant, it also provides an inclusive play experience for children of all ages and abilities, which was a major goal of Mutter and a town parents group that had lobbied for the new playground.
“I would be remiss to not give a shout out to April 'o and the Cumberland Mom’s Club for meeting with my team and advocating for this new space,” Mutter said.
The new playground replaces an older one at the Monastery that was dated and had fallen into disrepair. The town embarked on the project in early March when Highway Department crews demolished the old playground and prepared the site by removing rocks and cement and leveling off the area.