PLAY … A brand-new colorful Burke playground can be seen at Memorial Park in West Unity. The set was purchased and assembled through Snyder Recreation and is open for all. (PHOTO BY LINDSAY PHILLIPS, STAFF)
By: Lindsay Phillips
On October 5, 2022, West Unity Memorial Park officially opened their brand-new playground to the community.
The new one has replaced the parks previous wooden playground that was with an old steal jungle-gym, which was estimated to have been built back in the 80’s.
Children, and parents, will be able to enjoy the new equipment free of splinters.
The Burke Playground set was purchased and assembled by Snyder Recreation out of North Royalton, Ohio.
The set arrived at the park on September 26 and was built on September 28. Village Administrator, Josh Fritsch, shared, “They put it together really really fast.”
After opening the Splash Pad, the village wanted to continue to better the park, which resulted in the shiny new playground. Fritsch added, “We want to make it the best park we can make it.”
West Unity was able to pay for the playground through two grants, Nature Works and the remainder of their Ohio Capital Improvements grant from the Splash Pad.
Fritsch added, “Representative Jim Hoops helped us with getting money for part of the Capital Improvements Grant.”
A total cost of about seventy-six thousand dollars was completely paid for through the two grants.
Kid’s will enjoy the bright green, red and black colors of the equipment with features like large nets to climb, a slide, a bridge, monkey bars, a peeble bridge and countless other fun pieces.
Fritsch stated, “There was a couple of them we could pick out for the price we needed, this is the one we liked the best, it’s spread out and there is a lot to do and that’s what we liked about it.”
Fritsch stated, “We didn’t have to pay for it out of our budget, we’re extremely happy to be able to do this.” A grand opening will be held at a later date.
Lindsay can be reached at lindsay@thevillagereporter.com