Community Corner
New Houghton Beach Playground Almost Ready
Built in the style of a ship and dubbed the "MV Kirkland," the $40,470 structure should be taking on children by Thursday.
Children should be climbing, crawling and cavorting by Thursday on a new playground at , slightly delayed but almost finished.
Kirkland Parks and Community Services officials had hoped to get the $40,470 playground opened by Memorial Day Weekend. But progress was hindered by rainy weather, and then the discovery that the manufacturer, Play World Systems, had shipped one wrong panel, said Jason Filan, parks operations manager.
"We tried to make it fit, but didn't want to take any chances with a playground structure," he said.
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The correct panel is being expressed shipped and should arrive by Tuesday.
"It won't take long to install," Filan said Monday. "Then we'll spread wood chips around the playground on Wednesday. It'll be opened Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning."
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It's the second playground replaced by Kirkland Parks this year. A new one opened at last month.
The Houghton Beach structure is built in the style of a ship and was dubbed by parks officials the MV Kirkland, after an historic car ferry used by Argosy Cruises that was damaged by fire last year and retired.
Kirkland Parks maintains 24 playgrounds that each last 12 to 17 years, depending on the type of materials used and the conditions at each location. So most years, Kirkland Parks replaces two.
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