Green Street playground focus of meeting Wednesday night

The Parks & Recreation Commission is hosting a meeting Wednesday night to discuss planned changes to the Green Street playground. 

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Senior Center on Summer Street.

Recreation Coordinator Kelly Johnson said the goal of the meeting is to ensure residents are informed about plans for the park and solicit community input.

“While the meeting will be largely informational, residents will have an opportunity for questions and comments,” she said.  “Most importantly, residents will get to vote on their favorite structure from three different options.”

Parks & Rec earlier this summer circulated a survey asking residents what type of features they would like to see in an upgraded playground space.

“The majority of residents noted climbing structures and slides as a ‘must see’ design,” Johnson said. “Residents also gave some great suggestions about other design elements or additions to the space such as a gaga ball [pit], tetherball, and ADA-friendly elements.”

Residents unable to attend tonight’s meeting still have an opportunity to weigh in; the three options will be on display in the Town Library until August 28, Johnson said.

Improvements will likely be funded through Community Preservation Act funds.

The plan for now, according to Johnson, is to keep the new playground within the footprint of the existing playground, due to the site’s limited parking and poor drainage.

“In the future, there may be an opportunity to expand the playground space but because of the additional planning/work needed, it was not feasible to do within the timeline and budget of this phase,” she said.

The Woodsdale Elementary School playground and Beaver Brook Playground have each undergone major renovations in recent years.

Town Meeting this past spring approved a $2 million rehab of Memorial Field. Work started this week on improvements to the field’s lighting system.