Kids can’t help but jump, climb, swing, spin and run around the new playground equipment at Lake Meridian Park in Kent.
The city of Kent parks department spent $350,000, including $75,000 from a King County matching grant, to build the new playground that officially opened at the Fourth of July Splash festival.
“It’s our most popular park and we needed a playground that met the needs of the park,” said Brian Levenhagen, city parks project manager. “We expanded it to 8,000 square feet which more than doubled the size of the old one.”
The new merry-go-round known as the Apollo has attracted numerous kids since the playground opened after four months of construction.
“Every time I’ve been out there it’s packed with kids,” Levenhagen said.
The Apollo, built by Canadian-based Dynamo Industries, features steel-reinforced soft nylon ropes that provide plenty of places for children to hang onto as it spins.
“It has a higher capacity for use and kids learn to play together because someone has to push it while the others climb on top,” Levenhagen said.
Levenhagen said most playgrounds last an average of about 15 years before they need to be replaced. He said it had been about 15 years since crews installed the previous playground at Lake Meridian.
The playground also features a large play web, four swings and a new pirate ship that replaced the old pirate ship.
“Every kid we asked about what they wanted back from the old playground wanted the pirate ship,” Levenhagen said.
Crews also installed wheelchair ramps from the sidewalks to the play equipment to make the playground more accessible to everyone.
Funds for the playground came from the life cycle part of the parks budget to replace worn-out equipment. Levenhagen said the funds had been available for several years but the city wanted to get the county matching grant in order to build an expanded playground.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive,” Levenhagen said about reactions to the new playground. “We’ve heard from parents of 2 year olds and older kids who like it. We’ve heard positive comments from kids and moms.”
Of course, the best sign of whether a playground works or not is if kids are using the equipment.
“It’s always swarming with kids,” Levenhagen said.
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