Firefighter’s Memorial Park on Brandenburg Road will be completely renovated into a state-of-the-art playground.
The idea of expanding the playground and its popular splash pad was first broached by the Leitchfield City Council in early January. The plan, at that time, was to add playground equipment and expand the splash pad.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, though, Leitchfield Parks and Recreation Director Trent VanMeter asked the council to approve the city approaching lending institutions for financing for a totally revamped Firefighter’s Memorial Park.
VanMeter has been working with PlayPros, a Kokomo, Indiana, company that specializes in playground design. Together, VanMeter and PlayPros designed a 12,000-square-foot playground that will completely “redo the footprint” of the park, Vanmeter told the council.
“This is an amazing playground,” VanMeter said. “This is a play area where children come with their parents or their guardians, and they will stay all day.”
Essentially, the existing playground, which contains three separate play areas, will be “replaced with one large playground” accessible to all, regardless of disability or special needs
The new splash pad will be three-times larger than the current one, and, responding to citizens’ concerns about the lack of shaded areas at the current park, there will be ample shade in the new design.
The play surfaces will be static-free, as well. The park will also be surrounded by a fence.
Mayor Harold Miller, who raved about the proposed park’s new design, said: “We’ve got a duty to do things like this for our citizens here. It will benefit everyone in our community, and it’s just something really neat for the community.”
VanMeter said he received “quotes” of $1.6 million for the new playground, as he requested the city to pursue financing options, something the city council unanimously approved.
Responding to a question from Councilman Billy Dallas about what will happen to the existing playground equipment, VanMeter said the current equipment will be repurposed at Beville Park, possibly near the softball fields.
“We’ll use what we can for as long as we can before it becomes unsafe,” VanMeter told the council.
K105 will keep you updated as the project moves forward.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
