Lakewood Park's Playground Area

[David Anderson]

I went to Kids Cove after Friday’s July 4 parade and much work was done to the playground since my initial post.

- Loose pieces of timber/wood were reattached.
- Some, not all, of the broken pieces were fixed.
- Most of the mats/rugs underneath the swings were repositioned or removed.
- The entire playground was virtually litter/garbage/trash free including the wooden boxes that surround certain trees.
- A layer of mulch was added throughout which helped in the heavily used areas.
- Just the one section of three kiddy swings that had no swings whatsoever, just the frame, was left unchanged.

It is obvious that the city did this work in anticipation of the July 4 weekend. It looked fabulous and job well done. Can this level be maintained?

I also use the micro-park on Lakewood Heights/Niagara on almost a daily basis. The grass and trash can get attended to regularly, the equipment is in great condition and the tall fence separating the park from the Marginal is well maintained.

[Danielle Masters]

I was quite impressed with Lakewood Park on the 4th and so were my kids. They kept on running up to me to tell me what had been fixed. I noticed almost immediately the mulch, I do not remember the last time there was adequate mulch to cover the ground. Mike and I talked with a few other parents who were also impressed. I hope that the attention to the parks continues, this was certainly a good start because I haven't seen Lakewood Park in that good of shape for years.

[Ed FitzGerald]

I'm glad some noticed the recent work on some of the parks. We need to have stricter "quality control" for our public properties.

Before the end of July, Joe Beno, our new Public Works Director, and myself, will be outlining a city-wide parks improvement plan. It will be a mix of city efforts and community involvement, which is the kind of partnership needed for progress.

Among other things, we'll be addressing maintenance issues and the tennis courts. There are improvements the city administration can do on its own, but we can achieve even more with citizen participation. I'll be inviting all of you to help out in that effort.

[Diane Helbig]

FANTASTIC!

[David Anderson]

Thanks for the post, Mayor FitzGerald.

I agree that a parks improvement plan is needed but would be surprised if some sort of schedule isn’t already in place. I would like to think that the solid work completed at Kids Cove last week was part of an existing plan and not a reaction to this thread or to a realization that “July 4 is (was) just around the corner, we have to do something with the Lakewood Park playground.â€￾

What I am reading in-between the lines of your post is that a new City/resident strategy that builds park maintenance capacity is needed because the current City only plan is not plausible because, I am assuming, City finances. Is this accurate or are you trying to simply create more resident “ownershipâ€￾ of the parks? Or is it both?

[Holly C. Whisman]

Ultimately, it is the city’s responsibility to maintain city parks, including playgrounds. Granted, it is an expensive process, and requires ongoing watchfulness and upkeep.

This is why Joe started the Caring for Kids Cove project last year (as Jim mentioned). It was an attempt to collaborate with the City, while getting to know Lakewood and our neighbors better. We held a playground cleanup on a Saturday morning last fall, and many good ideas for raising fund were generated.

We have received several generous donations, including from the Junior Women’s Club, and the Lakewood Foundation kindly agreed to process those donations, until it is decided whether to spend the money to replace swings or other worn-out equipment.

Because we are both very busy with work, grad school and raising a family, we would be thrilled if someone else in the community wanted to take over the lead on this project. I assure you, there is plenty of support within the community, and much fun to be had along the way. We will remain involved, but would love for someone with lots of energy and some extra time on their hands to become involved as the coordinator/organizer.

Let us know if you’d like to help…and hopefully community groups will rise up in support of Madison and the other playgrounds as well.

[Ed FitzGerald]

The best government is a partnership between government action and citizen participation. Tonight I attended a meeting of the "Friends of Madison Park," which is a case in point. These residents, working with our Parks and Planning departments, are helping us design the new improvements to Madison Park. Their involvement insures both a better result, as well as encouraging "ownership" of the park and its activities by the community.

As part of our park improvement plans, we will try to replicate the Madison Park approach across the city. There are times when citizen involvement may save money, but that is not a motivating factor- I do believe that our current Parks Department staff will be up to the job of maintaining our public properties. We do have current methods of regular maintenance and upkeep for the parks which have already improved to some extent, but as part of our plan we hope to greatly increase our maintenance schedule and responsiveness.

We're tentatively looking at the end of this month for providing more details on our planned improvements, both in standards and physical improvements.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

The best government is a partnership between government action and citizen participation. Tonight I attended a meeting of the "Friends of Madison Park," which is a case in point. These residents, working with our Parks and Planning departments, are helping us design the new improvements to Madison Park. Their involvement insures both a better result, as well as encouraging "ownership" of the park and its activities by the community.

As part of our park improvement plans, we will try to replicate the Madison Park approach across the city. There are times when citizen involvement may save money, but that is not a motivating factor- I do believe that our current Parks Department staff will be up to the job of maintaining our public properties. We do have current methods of regular maintenance and upkeep for the parks which have already improved to some extent, but as part of our plan we hope to greatly increase our maintenance schedule and responsiveness.

We're tentatively looking at the end of this month for providing more details on our planned improvements, both in standards and physical improvements.

Wow. This post just got me to think just how lucky we are as residents of Lakewood to have this forum and a Mayor that engages in the talk over the digital fences. I can't think of any other Mayor(s) that have done so in neighboring cities. How lucky are we to have this forum so that City Hall and the residents don't stay out of touch, and that our Mayor and City Council members see, read and hear first hand what concerns us residents the most.

Keep it up Observation Deck/LO!

[Stephanie Toole]

I had the opportunity to see the playground plans for Madison Park and wow they look great!
Really can't wait to bring my kids there once again. We quite using Madsion and most of the other play grounds in Lakewood the past 4-5 years as we saw them fall into disrepair.
It is so awesome to read what Mayor Fitzgerald has in the works for our parks. Reclaiming our parks and getting them back to there former glory(so to speak) is vital to our community.
Thanks!