The Memorial Park playground in New Ipswich has been closed this week as crews work to replace playground equipment with a new play structure for younger children.
At the same time, work is ongoing in the softball field to install new lighting.
Parks and Recreation Director Mindy Buxton said the playground could be open again as soon as Friday and the installation of lights is expected to be finished by the end of the month. While the playground is closed, the rest of the fields and the basketball court are still open . The pool closed for the season in mid-August.
Last week, workers removed the smaller of the park’s two play structures, in anticipation of its replacement. Buxton said the structure was 18 years old and had multiple cracks.
The town used about $18,500 from the Parks and Recreation capital reserve to replace the play structure, which is designed for children from ages 3 to 8 and includes a friendship bench, a mini-rock climbing wall, and slide, and is more accessible, Buxton said.
At the same time the playground is undergoing the new equipment installation, work is ongoing to add lights to the town’s softball field, after a major fundraising effort led by Lauren Somero over the past year to raise the majority of the funds, as well as $15,000 from the Parks and Recreation revolving fund.
Matt Saari of Saari Excavating, Troy Shaw of Silver Leaf Landscaping, Chris Alix of Chris Alix Construction, Anthony Buxton with The Buxton Company, Justin Cormier and Lance Somero volunteered time and equipment to do the site work. Grace Electric will install the lights.
Other improvement work is also being done on the park, including cleaning up the area around the New Ipswich Town Pool fence line, and installation of Wi-Fi extenders to allow access at the ball field.
The park’s ga-ga court is also expected to be replaced this fall at a cost of about $2,200, which is expected to come from the park’s revolving fund
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.