PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A vote at the Peoria Park District’s Board of Trustees‘ meeting Wednesday night could mean the replacement for Tricentennial Playground in Glen Oak Park is one step closer to being a reality.
After more than a year of input as well as online surveys about two different options, the district has opted to combine the two options for what they think is a better albeit more expensive replacement for the historic Tricentennial Playground which has stood for about 30 years.
For about $130,000 more, Emily Cahill, the district’s executive director, said patrons could get a second climbing structure and a zip line. The hope is to have the old, wooden Tricentennial Playground demolished sometime this summer and construction on the new one to begin soon after.
Board members are asked to approve $882,000 for the new playground. Money was to come from state grants secured almost two years ago but the money hasn’t arrived yet in the district’s bank account.
As such, Cahill said, the district will borrow money from other projects and when the state money comes, they’ll use it for those other projects, all of which are located within Glen Oak Park.
“All we are doing is changing the order of those projects,” she said.
In all, the project will cost about $1.1 million, and she admits that many are now nostalgic about the removal of Tricentennial, she said, it’s time.
“We can’t fix up the old one as it’s made of wood, and there is only so many things you can do to fix the wood,” she said. “We have done that for as long as we could do that. It either needed to be replaced as is or replaced with something new.”
A memo that accompanied the board’s packet on the item stated there are “countless opportunities for side-by-side play that simply weren’t accessible to all in the wooden playset.”
The new playground reflects the changes in philosophy when it comes to how things are built. It’ll be more open, with fewer places where kids will be unseen by adults. And there will be protections to guard against kids running into the nearby parking lot.
“We need to be different. We need to have a fully inclusive playground that is over and above,” Cahill said. “All of our playgrounds are inclusive but this one, we are working to achieve the highest level of playability and inclusiveness.”
