Above: A look at Fayville playground past and potentially future (photo left by Joao Melo, image right contributed)
Southborough’s playground on Central Street is due to reopen later this year. Recreation hopes for work to be done on the revamped grounds by mid-late summer.
The playground has been closed since it suffered a massive blow last July. If you were in town, you probably remember the freak wind storm that blew through. It resulted in a crushed pavilion.
Reopening the playground was complicated by renovation plans already in the works. Originally, the pavilion was to remain untouched. But once it was destroyed, Recreation decided it made sense to revisit their plans.
Before its closing, the playground was a fun place for infants, toddlers and young school kids. According to an article by Southborough Wicked Local, the Town now hopes to widen the appeal:
Ferguson said one of the goals is to expand the age groups that can use the park, including moving and enlarging the basketball court that will likely be done in a later phase. The basketball court will be paid for with a separate $68,500 from Community Preservation grant.
“It will be a much larger court for older kids to play on,” she said.
Final plans are still in the works. Recreation Director Doreen Ferguson tells me she recently met with a group of parents to try to incorporate some of their ideas. Because residents kept asking for updated information, she shared some images on Facebook.
These aren’t actual renderings of the final plan. (Once one is available, she will share it.) The images below just represent some of the features they are looking to include:
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge)
I have to confess, this story made me a little nostalgic and sad.
I understand the need to replace the old wooden, splinter inducing structures. But they are where my children went from crawling in the sand pit to mastering the monkey bars. It’s where they and countless Southborough tots “sold ice cream” to parents (again, and again, and again!)
Seeing it replaced feels like closing a chapter of their childhood. I’m guessing I’m not the only mom in town who will feel that way.
For those of you looking forward to your family’s time on the new lot after it opens – I wish your family as much joy as the old playground gave mine.
