Park board approves new Maytag Park playground design

Same playground, new equipment. The Newton Park Board settled on a new playground design Wednesday to replace the current playground at Maytag Park later this summer. The board’s next step is to seek approval at the next city council meeting.

A few weeks ago, the board narrowed down the potential playground designs to its top two choices. At Wednesday’s meeting, a representative from each of the two design companies gave a 15-minute presentation about their designs, features and costs.

The board debated on the benefits of each playground but voted for a plan from Boland Recreation, a design company from Marshalltown, for recommendation to the city council.

The playground that was chosen will fit on the same space at the current Maytag Park playground and will have two components, an area for 2- to 5-year-olds and another for 5- to 12-year-olds. There will be a total of seven slides, 12 climbers (attached to playground decks) and 14 freestanding items like a spinner, jax web and a rock climber and six swings. The board is considering keeping the current swing-set for additional playground use.

Both the board and Boland like how the current park has many unique freestanding items located throughout the playground. They both also liked the concept of having two separate large playground structures for different ages, younger children and older children.

Safety, variety and accessible were important attributes when considering a final playground design. The chosen design has a total of 20 ground level items that meet American Disabilities Association guidelines.

The estimated cost of the playground and project is $92,000 and includes equipment, delivery, surfacing and installation supervision, and the park board will take this plan to the next city council meeting for approval. The board had a budget of $100,000.

In other news from the meeting:

• A tentative 2014 Fourth of July fireworks agenda was handed out to those in attendance, along with lists of possible family games and events, committed vendors and volunteers groups. Agnes Patterson Park will be closed down at 8 a.m. on July 4. Vendors can begin set-up at noon and fireworks will start at 9 p.m. The board would like to incorporate games, music and food into this year’s holiday event, making it more inclusive for all ages and a family-friendly occasion.

• A gentleman and resident of Newton inquired why the senior age requirement at Westwood Golf Course is 65 years old and older. He said he had been doing some research and many other central Iowa golf courses had a 60 years old and older senior age requirement, or even 55. The man said he was older than 60 years old but had some time before he would be 65 and that he would get a senior membership if he was eligible, instead of playing per round. The board told him this issue had not been brought to their attention and that they will look into it.

Staff writer Kate Malott may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 422, or at kmalott@newtondailynews.com.