CHIMACUM — The 250 students at Chimacum Elementary School will soon be sliding, spinning, climbing, crawling and rocking at a new playground on their West Valley Road campus.
Out is wood equipment that can produce splinters, metal equipment that gets hot when the sun’s out, hard concrete surfaces that have no cushion when kids fall and lots of skinned knees.
The Chimacum playground is student- , staff- and parent-approved to maximize activity, minimize risk and ensure ease of maintenance and longevity.
The 4,000-square-foot outdoor area stands on the footprint of two older playgrounds that were badly in need of replacement, said Scott Mauk, superintendent of the Chimacum School District.
The $500,010 project was funded from the district’s 2024 capital levy and a $200,000 Healthy Kids-Healthy Schools grant from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Mauk said the process began with talking to the end users.
“I was really adamant about getting kids involved in the design,” he said.
Designers with Northwest Playground Equipment met with and surveyed students about what they wanted. It also sought input from staff and parents.
Adults were primarily concerned with safety and accessibility. Would there be good sight lines for supervising play? How were falling risks mitigated? Would students of all abilities be able to use the equipment?
Students were concerned about fun. They got most of — but not everything — they wanted.
Some pieces of equipment were frowned on as too high risk by the Schools Risk Management Pool, the member-owned financial and risk-management insurance pool for public school districts in the state.
Others did not fit in the budget.
“They really wanted a swing, but you can’t have just one swing, we’d need at least four,” Mauk said.
The district isn’t ruling out the possibility of adding swings. It will depend on finding private support to purchase the equipment and build out an area for installation.
Among the equipment the students chose that did make it into the final design are a rope net, tether ball, climbing nets, a saucer-shaped unity rocker and an 8-foot-wide slide.
Rather than hiring a contractor, the school district rented equipment for staff to remove the old surface and complete the groundwork to save money. The old concrete and pea gravel surfaces will be replaced with 2-foot by 2-foot interlocking pieces of rubberized tile that will reduce the risk of injury from falls. And, if damaged, they can simply be popped out and replaced.
Installation of the equipment and tiles will occur this week with a ribbon-cutting scheduled soon.
Mauk said the district’s next playground is slated for Chimacum Creek Primary School in Port Hadlock, where it will double as a space for people throughout the community to enjoy. That project depends on whether the district can obtain another Healthy Kids-Healthy Schools grant.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com
