PORT ANGELES — City crews are assembling new playground equipment at Shane Park in west Port Angeles.
The state-of-the-art playset was purchased through a two-year community fundraising campaign — led by the mother of the boy for whom the park was named — with a $100,000 match from the city.
The playground will be open for children next spring.
“We’re just plugging away on the playground,” said Corey Delikat, city parks and street superintendent.
“Right now, we’re putting the main components together. Probably in the next month or so, we’ll be about 50 percent done with that.
“And then eventually when we get everything put together, we’ll have to wait until some warmer weather before we can put the matting down so that the glue will dry properly.”
Safety tiles will be installed to keep children from hurting themselves when they jump or fall off the slides, towers, climbing wall, swings or upside-down merry-go-round.
The city in July received a $39,627 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office to complete the project.
By that time, the Shane Park Playground Committee had raised more than $70,000 through a series of creative fundraisers such as bowling parties and community meals.
The park between Sixth and Eighth streets and G and E streets was named for Shane Fowler, who died at the age of 9 after a concrete ring fell on top of him when the park was being built in 1973.
Fowler’s mother, Janet Young, is president of the Shane Park Playground Committee.
Last summer, crews excavated the 6,000-square-foot playground site, located just east of the public restrooms.
Andersen & Sons Gravel donated material for the foundation and hauled it to the site.
Ken Reandeau Excavating helped the city get the area prepped for the first pour.
The wheelchair-accessible playground will dwarf the existing playset, which consists of a simple yellow slide.
Young has long envisioned a larger playground for her neighborhood park for the children of players in softball leagues.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
