The FunSpace playground at Dickinson Park will close on October 7. Parks and Recreation Department crews will begin its demolition in preparation for construction of new play features there.

Recreation Director Amy Mangold met recently with Al Corsetti, vice president of Pat Corsetti Inc, the contractor recently awarded the bid for construction of the Elm Drive park. The $774,162 project is a combination of bonding, donation, and surcharge funding. “Construction should begin soon after,” Ms Mangold said. The new play space will be ADA accessible and accommodate wheelchairs.

All facilities including the playground at Treadwell Park, on Philo Curtis Road, will still be available.

“We’re very excited,” said Ms Mangold. “We are glad to be starting the project.”

New play features are based on resident and landscape architect Billie Cohen’s design per town officials’ and staff approvals. The new playscape incorporates play stations, interactive elements, and will “surround children with the feel of their natural environment,” Ms Mangold said. The new playscape will “connect children with nature and provide them with avenues for creativity.”

The contractors can continue to work through the winter, completing the final safety surfacing and handicapped access features after installation. Ms Mangold anticipates a late spring/summer opening.

Parks & Rec will host a groundbreaking on Tuesday, October 22, at 11 am, welcoming the public and “anyone who was a part of building the existing playground,” Ms Mangold said. “This could be a retirement event as well as a groundbreaking.”

Several pieces of the former playground FunSpace will be preserved, and kept at Dickinson, she said.

The project is still accepting donations through the Parks and Recreation Department. Ms Mangold “would love” to add a stage and butterfly gardens that are in the plan design but were not bid with the project.