Materials arriving next month, install date set for second full week of the month
Don’t worry, Rockmart parents! A playground is coming before summer gets underway in earnest for local youth to enjoy.
The old playground at the Nathan Dean Sports Complex was removed last year after safety concerns forced it to close, and the replacement is now coming and the city hopes to have it installed and up and running before summer officially starts in June.
Initially the city announced plans for a community build for the new play space to encompass the same footprint the old wooden playground inhabited at the Sports Complex off of Nathan Dean Parkway, but that timeframe isn’t going to work out for kids to get to play this summer.
So City Manager Stacey Smith announced during the Rockmart City Council meeting on Tuesday that the new playground materials will be arriving early in June, and officials have marked the calendar to have it installed by the second full week of the month – June 12 through June 16.
Smith said that due to the quick turnaround on the playground, the effort to have volunteers help with the process was sidelined and Korkat out of Carrollton will be completing the work.
“We definitely needed a playground, and to do the community build is a long process,” Smith said. “We wanted to have a quicker turnaround on ensuring our children in the community had a place to play and enjoy being outdoors.”
The city is spending $280,000 on the new playground (including the cost of install) that will include all new structures, swings and Americans with Disabilities Act accessible structures for youth up to age 12. Some $125,000 of the funding is coming from a state Land and Water Conservation Fund grant the city was awarded in October.
Some of the old playground removed last year ended up being salvaged. Pickets purchased as part of the fundraising process were given back to those who wanted to save theirs, and carved wooden scenes that were up around the original playground depicting Rockmart were moved to the Silver Comet Trailhead downtown.
