Tara Wareham, program coordinator for Denison Parks & Rec, talks about the new Washington Park playground with St. Rose students Mateo Contreras, Camilla Andrade, Enaiyrah Lemus and Alondra Lara (with back towards the camera). Photos by Gordon Wolf

Late last week and on Monday of this week, the eventual users of the new Washington Park playground were clued in on what is coming.

Presentations were made at Unity Ridge, Denison Elementary, Broadway Elementary and St. Rose.

Denison Mayor Pam Soseman and Tara Wareham, the new program coordinator for Denison Parks & Rec, spoke about a zip line, a trampoline that can be accessed by wheelchairs, music-making features and other equipment that will be part of the playground.

Both emphasized that the new playground will be all-inclusive.

“Do you know what that means?” Soseman asked students at St. Rose. “It means it’s for everyone.”

She also told students that they could go from the east end of the playground to the west end without touching the ground, simply by going from one piece of equipment to the next.

One of the prevailing community questions about the playground is if it will be fenced in, as Kids Kastle had been fenced in. Kids Kastle, a wooden structure, was demolished last year because its deteriorated condition raised safety concerns from the city’s insurance carrier.

Von Grover (left) points excitedly as a video of the Washington Park playground is shown in the Broadway Elementary auditorium. With him are Charlie Kilnoski and Cameron Brown. The video can be seen on the Denison Parks & Rec Facebook page.

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**Mayor Pam Soseman takes questions from St. Rose students.**

Mayor Pam Soseman said the playground would not have a fence, and this has to do with handicapped accessibility.

“In designing the park, the engineer said to make it ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant that we should not put a fence around it,” she said. “That and it’s more transparent. In the past we’ve had problems with vandalism within the confines of the fenced area.”

Green space green space between the playground and off-street parking on the south side of Washington Park.

More trees will be planted around the playground.

“We have been told the more shade you have it increases the longevity of the poured-in-place surface,” the
mayor said.

It is anticipated that the playground will be completed in August or September at the latest.

It will take 14 weeks for the equipment to be delivered after it is ordered. The order will be placed soon, said Soseman, adding it has to be before the new prices come out.

“They (the vendor) has guaranteed us 2023 pricing if we get it ordered in February,” Soseman said.

The vendor will install the playground equipment.

Read more details about the playground equipment in future issued of The Denison Free Press.