New playgrounds coming to area parks

By Alesia Mayfield, Eastside News

Six Madison parks will see changes that will please both children and their parents — three of which are on the east side. Beginning later this year, the playground equipment at Eastmorland, Orton, James Madison, Marshall, Newberry and Heifetz parks will be replaced. Orton and Eastmorland parks are used by many Eastside News readers.

Emma Krug, a landscape architect for the city, is the project coordinator for the replacement of the six playgrounds. She explained that the expected life span of traditional playground equipment is estimated to last between 20-30 years.

“As playground equipment ages, repairs become more frequent, replacement parts harder to find and plastic components become brittle,” she said. “The new playground equipment replaces outdated equipment to ensure our playgrounds remain safe and fun. The new playground equipment will meet all current safety and accessibility guidelines.”

Madison Parks staff maintains a replacement schedule for over 190 playgrounds in the parks system. The schedule is evaluated annually, and adjustments are based on the current condition of the equipment and on funding. All six parks will remain largely the same but with new playground equipment and swings. Each will have a different playground design that will reflect input received from public meetings.

As project coordinator, Krug’s role is twofold: to organize public meetings and to coordinate with the other park planners to make sure the projects stay on schedule. There will be virtual public meetings in March and April for each of the parks via Zoom. Orton Park’s will be Monday, March 9, at 6 p.m. and Eastmorland Park’s will be Tuesday, April 14, at 6 p.m.

Additionally, each playground will have its own project webpage on the city’s website. The pages will be updated with the current status of the project, upcoming meetings and information from previous meetings and any additional information. The pages have links to register for the virtual meetings.

Some design options have been posted on each project webpage. Krug encourages resident input on the designs and said that the best way to provide input is to attend the public meetings.

For more information and project updates, visit cityofmadison.com/parks/projects where all projects are listed alphabetically.