Laurel Park prepares for new playground

You might not think of Laurel Park as a segment of the city teeming with children, but for evidence that youngsters are living in the area, you need to look no further than the playground at the neighborhood park on Laurel Street.

That’s why Candie Pedersen, a landscape manager with the city, was at the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association’s Feb. 27 meeting. Armed with a variety of concept images depicting slides, swings and other play equipment, Pederson was asking for input on a new playground for the park at 1725 Laurel St.

The city is prepared to invest around $100,000 into a new playground for Laurel Park, Pedersen said. She estimated the existing playground structure, at 22 years old, is about a decade past its prime. Although the Laurel Park playground is one of the smallest in the city, she said it gets a lot of use.

“There are children in there — they leave their toys, they come back to play with them the next day,” Pedersen said. “This is a really well-loved community playground.”

The process of planning a new neighborhood park playground started before Pedersen went to Laurel Park residents to discuss the project. Pedersen said city staff starts by looking at census data to get a good sense of the demographics in the area, usually focusing on people living within a mile of the park to concentrate on those who are in walking distance.

Pedersen said she also draws on her professional experience to identify options that make sense for the specific characteristics of a neighborhood park.

“It’s in a wooded, smaller area,” Pedersen said of Laurel Park. “What can we do to maximize the space?”

After gathering input at the neighborhood association meeting — each resident in attendance was given stickers to place on concepts they favored for the park — Pedersen has narrowed her focus to three companies with three visions for the playground. She’s giving the neighborhood a chance to consider those options and decide which one the community favors.

Even before the neighborhood settles on a single idea for how it wants the playground to look, the initial round of feedback has helped Pedersen discover some common themes that interest people living in Laurel Park.

“One of the themes that did stand out the most is that they really liked the natural-looking things,” Pedersen said. “They liked the log swingset and the slides with the treehouse theme.”

If all goes according to schedule, Pedersen said the city hopes to have the playground project completed before the end of the fiscal year in September.