The Lincolnwood Parks and Recreation Department is looking ahead to spring when a new $100,000 new playground will be installed at another one of the village’s 13 parks.
G.G. Rowell Park, 6555 Albion Avenue, will be the ninth park to get new play equipment as part of the village’s playground replacement program. The initiative started in 2004 to replace the equipment in all Lincolnwood parks by the year 2020.
“The plan was created to anticipate the life expectancy of each playground within Lincolnwood’s park system, and gradually replace the equipment before it goes beyond repair or no longer meets national safety standards,” according to Laura McCarty, parks and recreation department director. “The useful life of playground equipment typically falls between 15 and 20 years, and varies based on several factors such as use, composition, upkeep, and site characteristics.”
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La Grange-based outdoor recreation equipment company NuToys Leisure Products designed the playground based on community feedback provided last fall, and trustees approved a recommendation from the park board to accept a bid from Plainfield-based Hacienda Landscaping to install the new equipment for $100,500, according to information from the village.
The company, a landscape design business that also does playground installations, was the lowest bidder among three contractors that submitted quotes for the project, village data indicates.
So far, the village has spent between $90,000 and $100,000 for each of the eight playgrounds installed at Columbia, Kildare, Rossi, Goebelt, Kenneth, Springfield, Drake and O’Brien parks, McCarty said. She explained that
the entire replacement program is paid out of a village capital improvement fund.
“In addition to the playground replacement program, the functionality and safety within our park system is monitored on an ongoing basis,” McCarty said. “Ongoing inspections and maintenance are also key to extending the safe and useful life of the equipment.”
After the playground project at G.G. Rowell is completed, the next parks in line for upgrades are Central, Flowers and Proesel, according to village data.
The new playground at G.G. Rowell Park, named after a former longtime trustee, is expected to open in March, village officials said.
This spring, volunteers from a nonprofit organization called Kids Around the World, which donates used play equipment to impoverished countries, are scheduled to remove the old equipment before the installation begins at G.G. Rowell Park.
Lincolnwood previously donated equipment removed from playgrounds at Drake and O’Brien parks to the charity.
Some of that equipment ended up in communities in Israel, Lebanon and North Korea, according to the parks and recreation department.
Natalie Hayes is a freelancer.