The Winamac Town Park could get some more playground equipment next year. Connie Roe, who directs the adult volleyball league, asked the park board last week about the possibility of adding playground equipment between the volleyball and basketball courts.
“During the summer, when we have the league, there’s kids running around with nothing to do,” Roe explained. She added that there’s a possibility that the town’s Lions Club, of which she’s also a member, might be able to fund it.
Board President Chris Schramm and the rest of the park board were generally open to the idea. “I think what the consensus here – I don’t really have to take a vote, I don’t think – is that we can move forward with something limited, at least something down there, especially if it’s not going to cost the town any money,” Schramm said.
But members noted that there were several issues that would have to be worked out. Schramm pointed out that any equipment, as well as the play surface, should be ADA-compliant. Adding a wheelchair-friendly surface could be tricky, since the area is prone to flooding. Board Member Pat Bawcum added that the park board will have to make sure that the new playground won’t interfere with the planned Frisbee golf course.
The park board is still planning to replace the equipment in the Town Park’s toddler playground, thanks to a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant and donations from a number of community groups. To save costs, board members discussed the idea of reusing some of that equipment for the proposed playground, if it could be made ADA-compliant.
In the end, Bawcum suggested that Roe take the idea to the full Lions Club, have them pick out what equipment they’d like, and bring the proposal back to the park board in the spring.
