for Collegeville’s Community Park at 6 p.m. Jan. 7
All Invited to a New Playground Equipment Presentation
Much of our playground equipment at Community Park is over 25 years old; replacement parts are no longer available. For this park and the other parks in the borough, our Parks Committee is working with the Montgomery County Planning Commission to develop an overall master parks plan. Once we have a master plan in place, it gives our borough a “leg up” in being awarded funding grants by the county and state.
On Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. in Borough Hall, Collegeville residents can learn about new playground equipment and weigh in on the types of structures they would most like to see in Community Park. Playground Equipment Rep Steve Compo from Burke Recreation Resource will be providing us with his recommendations for new equipment. You can attend the meeting in person or via Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87181233734
The PowerPoint from the meeting will also be posted after the meeting on the Borough website.
This is the second playground equipment presentation the Parks Committee has held. On Dec. 17, Mike Doyle, a rep from Kompan inc., a company, which designs inclusive playgrounds, presented his recommendations for equipment. You can view that presentation here: Collegeville Community Park Presentation
In planning our new playground, the borough needs to be realistic concerning what types of playground equipment we can afford to set up and maintain and what would be a challenge for us. As a small borough, we have no parks or maintenance staff. Most of the maintenance in our seven parks and open space areas is contracted with our Public Works Department, which runs our water and sewer facilities. All other regular maintenance is done by volunteers. Unfortunately, this lack of staff and funding eliminates playground ideas which require ongoing servicing, such as splash pads, permanent bathrooms, or a dog park, all of which we would love to have in Collegeville Borough.
Collegeville Parks Committee head Kathy Costello explains that, “Once we decide on our new Community Park Playground Plan, we will need to replace or add equipment in phases as we raise money from grants and fundraising. Our hope is to decide on a playground design to add to our Parks Master Plan in time to start a fundraising campaign and submit grant proposals starting in April of 2025.”
Kathy continues “I would also like to give a shout out of sincere thanks to resident Cody Jennings, who has been volunteering his time making repairs to our Community Park playground equipment. This allows us to continue to use the existing equipment while we work to raise enough money to purchase and install new equipment.
“I am also looking for any community members with or without fundraising knowledge and experience to join our Parks Committee and help with our fundraising planning and Implementation.
“We greatly appreciate all the feedback and offers of help our residents have provided so far!”
If you would like to provide input but can’t attend the meeting, you can e-mail Kathy at KCostello@council.collegeville-pa.gov
