Easton families have a new space for kids to play, explore and enjoy at the recently renovated Aspetuck Park Playground.
The new playground officially opened on March 31 and provides many new improvements over the one it replaced, said Easton Parks and Recreation Director Danielle Alves.
“The size was increased–this is about 3,500 square feet, the previous one was a lot smaller, Alves said. “It’s ADA accessible and everything is brand new and updated to current guidelines.” The renovation also included new swings and a toddler play area for ages 3 to 5, an addition the previous playground lacked, Alves said.
The previous playground was over 30 years old and had been on the list to replace for some time, Alves said. “We also wanted to move it to be further away from the water and away from the flood zone, which we did. It’s been in dire need of a replacement for a while so we were really happy to finally do it.”
The site began construction on March 23 and was completed in only four days, ahead of the projected two weeks construction time.
“They tell you two weeks just in case there’s weather issues or other complications,” said Alves. “The site was very easy for construction because it was on a previous T-Ball field so there was nothing to dig up there, the weather worked out perfectly. UltiPlay, the company who did the project, were fast and efficient and they did a great job.”
The project required no additional town appropriation, Alves said. “It cost about $200,000 and it was completely funded by our activity account, a revenue fund from the Park and Rec department,” Alves said. “In addition, a donation from the Kartiganer family included three benches and the balance beam.”
Easton residents have more parks projects to look forward to after the Aspetuck renovation.
“We’re gonna be doing a bathroom renovation at Aspetuck in the coming months, also financed by the activity account,” Alves said. “We’re also working on some baseball field renovations, one at Lower Veterans Field and one at ECD Little league field, hopefully completed by the end of the year. Those, however, are financed by the field use revenue account.”
